Abraham T.J., president of the Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum, said on Saturday that he welcomed the decision of Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj to file a ₹10 crore defamation suit against him.
Mr. Abraham recently alleged that Mr. Madhwaraj had mortgaged three acres and eight cents of land in Uppoor village, allegedly valued at ₹1.1 crore, and obtained a loan of ₹193 crore from the Malpe branch of SyndicateBank in Udupi.
Mr. Madhwaraj, on March 21, issued a legal notice to Mr. Abraham to publicly withdraw his allegation within three days or face a ₹10-crore defamation suit.
Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Abraham said he was responding within the three days’ time given by Mr. Madhwaraj. He said if SyndicateBank had given a loan amounting to ₹193 crore to Mr. Madhwaraj for a collateral of ₹1.1 crore, it was nothing but a fraud. “I request Mr. Madhwaraj to file the defamation suit in 30 days. If he does not, then I will file a case against him,” he said.
Mr. Abraham said he has already filed an application with the regional office of SyndicateBank under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking details of the properties mortgaged by Mr. Madhwaraj to get the loan. The bank has to provide the details within 30 days, he said.
Mr. Abraham said that in his application, he has shown the revenue mutation records and the value of the lands declared by Mr. Madhwaraj himself. “Why is Mr. Madhwaraj not showing any document (to the press) to buttress his argument that he has not fraudulently got the loan?” he asked.
Mr. Abraham released a list of movable and immovable properties declared by Mr. Madhwaraj before the Lokayukta in 2015-16. According to the list, the activist said, the properties are worth ₹40.27 crore.
