The first report of retired High Court judge John Michael D’Cunha on the alleged irregularities in COVID-19 management has cited irregularities to the tune of “several hundreds of crores”, besides flagging the missing files on the issue, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil said on Thursday.
The State Cabinet has decided to hand over the report for review by an official committee, headed by the Chief Secretary.
“The report has made serious observation on misappropriation of hundreds of crores [of rupees] and about mishandling and malpractices. The report has spoken specifically about the missing files and those files that were not brought before him inspite of repeatedly asking for them. A committee of officials, led by the Chief Secretary [Shalini Rajaneesh] and Additional Chief Secretary [L.K. Atheeq] will review the report,” Mr. Patil told presspersons at the post-Cabinet briefing.
Six more months
He said that officials had been given a month’s time to review the report and see who had not brought the files before the D’Cunha commission. He also said that the government had extended the term of the commission by six months to facilitate submission of the final report.
The submission of the first report by the retired judge had led to a political slugfest with BJP leaders, including State president B.Y. Vijayendra, whose father B.S. Yediyurappa was the then Chief Minister, and Chickballapur MP K. Sudhakar, who was then the Health Minister, terming the move as “political revenge” by the State government, which is under pressure over MUDA irregularities.
While much of the content of the report is not known, Mr. Patil said that the Cabinet was briefed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who received the report from Mr. D’Cunha recently.
“I am briefing what the Chief Minister told the Cabinet,” Mr. Patil, who headed the Political Affairs Committee that probed the alleged COVID-19 irregularities, said when he was pressed for additional details. When asked if the report had named the former Health Minister, he said, “I am not aware of it.”
On being asked why the police had not been asked to review the report given by Mr. D’Cunha, the Minister said: “All reports need not to be given to the police. It is the decision of the government.”
Responding to a question if the report would be placed before the legislature during the winter session, Mr. Patil said: “We might table the first report and if the final report is submitted by then, the final report could be placed.”
Published - September 05, 2024 10:21 pm IST
