ACB gives clean chit to Yathindra in laboratory tender case

Complainant alleges ACB has not conducted a fair probe

BENGALURU - KARNATAKA - 07/07/2017 : (L-R) Sunil Bose, son of Public Works Department minister H C Mahadevappa, Dr Yathindra, younger son of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Prajwal Revanna, son of Janata Dal (Secular) party leader H D Revanna.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has given Yathindra, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son, a clean chit in the case where a firm formerly co-owned by him was awarded the tender to start a diagnostic lab on the premises of Victoria Hospital in the city. The complainant in the case, S. Bhaskaran, alleged that the ACB has not conducted a fair probe.

This was the case that brought Dr. Yathindra to the limelight for the first time in April 2016. Matrix Imaging Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., a private firm then co-owned by Dr. Yathindra, had bagged the contract to open a diagnostic lab at Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) Hospital. Allegations of impropriety and conflict of interest were made when it was revealed that only Matrix Imaging Solutions participated in the tender after another bidder was disqualified. Following the allegations, Dr. Yathindra quit the company.

A senior ACB official said an impartial probe was conducted into the case and no lapses in procedure were found. “There was a tender scrutiny committee, which scrutinised the bids. Though one of the bidders was unable to make it due to a technical issue at the final stage, it was not a single-bid tender,” the official said.

However, RTI activist Mr. Bhaskaran told

The Hindu that ACB officials neither recorded his statement nor sought any document pertaining to the case in the year-and-a-half since he lodged the complaint. The only communication he received from ACB was a letter dated October 27, 2017, stating that they had closed the probe.

The clean chit comes as a huge relief to Dr. Yathindra, who is seen as the political successor to Mr. Siddaramaiah, after the untimely death of his elder brother Rakesh Siddaramaiah in July 2016. Dr. Yathindra has been politically active in his father’s constituency Varuna, from where he is tipped off to contest as Mr. Siddaramaiah is expected to move to Chamundeshwari.