Karnataka Government orders judicial probe into bribery charges against CM

The coalition Government in Karnataka has decided to hold a judicial probe into the Rs 1.5 billion bribery charge levelled against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and two of his Cabinet colleagues by BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy.

The decision to order a judicial probe was taken at an emergency meeting of coalition Cabinet in Bangalore late on Friday evening, two days after the BJP legislator repeated the bribery charge on the floor of the Legislative Council, sending the five-month-old JD (S)-BJP coalition Government into a tailspin.

Emerging from the Cabinet meeting, Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti said the judicial probe, apart from investigating the bribery charge, will also inquire into all mining activities, including illegal mines, in the state since January 2000. “The inquiry will also investigate the charges of corruption and favouritism in granting licenses to mine owners that have been raised”, he said.

The terms of reference of the judicial probe and whether a sitting or a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court would head it will be announced in a week’s time. The probe will cover all the irregularities and scandals in the mining sector since January 2000, Horatti said while briefing reporters.

Horatti said the cabinet decision to order a judicial probe into the bribery charges against the Chief Minister, Home Minister M P Prakash and Forest Minister C Chennigappa, all of whom belong to the JD (S), was in line with the resolution adopted at the co-ordination committee meeting of the coalition partners JD (S) and BJP.

BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy’s allegation that the Chief Minister and his two cabinet colleagues had collected a whopping Rs 1.5 billion from the mine operators in iron ore- rich belt of Bellary district in Central Karnataka has not only created a political sensation in the state, but threatens the camaraderie between the coalition partners BJP and JD (S).

Meanwhile, the pressure on Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi to sack the coalition Government on the issue has increased with former President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Janardhan Poojary seeking the dismissal of the Government to pave the way for mid-term elections in the state.