State Advocate-General S. Vijay Shankar is learnt to have given a clean chit to S. Suresh Kumar, who resigned from the Ministry recently following allegations that he had made a false claim in an affidavit to get a Bangalore Development Authority site.
The Advocate-General, who looked into the matter on the directions of Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, has reportedly absolved Mr. Kumar of the charge of suppressing facts in the affidavit. Mr. Shankar, who was asked on Monday morning to give a legal opinion, submitted his views in the evening. The report is yet to be made public.
However, Mr. Kumar told The Hindu that he was yet to get a copy of the legal opinion. He would take a decision on withdrawing his resignation only after going through the legal opinion. According to sources in the government, he is likely to be given a copy on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister decided to ask the Advocate-General to look into the issue as Mr. Kumar had made it clear that he would not withdraw his resignation till he was proved “not guilty” of the charge through an inquiry.
Mr. Kumar resigned on June 23 following a report in a section of the press that he had suppressed details regarding some properties owned by his mother and daughter while filing an affidavit for getting a BDA site.
However, his resignation was not accepted by the Chief Minister.
