188 former Karnataka lawmakers owe dues to Legislators’ Home

More than 185 out of the 224 MLAs of the recently dissolved Karnataka Assembly will not be able to re-enter the electoral fray in the forthcoming elections if they fail to clear their dues towards the rent of the rooms they had occupied in the Legislators’ Home in Bangalore.

For, the State Legislature Secretariat has refused to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC), which has to be compulsorily filed along with the nomination papers of the former MLAs who seek re-election to the Assembly.

As many as 188 former MLAs, most of whom are still occupying the rooms in the Legislators’ Home, are yet to clear their dues, according to officials in the Legislature Secretariat.

Soon after the dissolution of the 12th Karnataka Assembly in November 2007, the State Legislature Secretariat wrote to the occupants of the Legislators’ Home to vacate the rooms by January 2008. The rent of the rooms, which was a paltry Rs 100 per month before the Assembly was dissolved, was raised to Rs 50 per day soon thereafter till January end, the deadline set by the Secretariat for vacating the rooms.

But, many former MLAs refused to vacate the rooms by January end and sought more time. The Secretariat obliged by giving two more months till March end, but fixed a higher rent of Rs 100 per day.

Among the defaulting former MLAs is former Minister H S Mahadev Prasad, who owes a whopping Rs 211,000. For, the former Minister had refused to vacate the room even after he became a Minister in the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition Government.

According to rules, a legislator has to vacate the room in Legislators’ Home as becomes eligible for a Government bungalow. Mahadev Prasad, who did not vacate the room in Legislators’ Home even after becoming a Minister and occupying a Government quarters, has to pay a monthly rent of Rs 10,000 for the room according to the rules.

Other former Ministers, who figure in the list of top defaulters are Alkod Hanumanthappa, Shashikanth Akkappa and Katta Subramanya Naidu, who owe Rs 164,000, Rs 146,000 and Rs 58,000 respectively. All these former Ministers continued to occupy the Legislators’ Home room even as they were staying in the Government bungalows.

Though a couple of former Ministers are bargaining hard with the Secretariat officials to bring down the monthly rent from Rs 10,000 to Rs 3,000, the officials have refused to yield as it would amount to violating the law.

“The rules are very clear. If they wish to re-enter the electoral fray, they have to submit the NOC issued by the Secretariat. Till the dues are cleared, the NOC will not be issued”, said an official from the Secretariat.