BENGALURU: Congress state president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced here on Tuesday that Congress will organise a Rajbhavan Chalo on August 31 to urge Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to sanction prosecution against BJP and JDS leaders who are facing criminal charges.
He said appeals are pending before the governor, seeking permission to prosecute Union Minister for Steel HD Kumaraswamy, former ministers Murugesh Nirani, Shashikala Jolle and Janardhan Reddy.
“The Lokayukta has been waiting for governor’s approval to prosecute Kumaraswamy in connection with a mining case. The case has been under investigation for over a decade, yet the governor has not granted permission,” he said.
“The Rajbhavan Chalo will begin at 10 am from the Gandhi statue near Vidhana Soudha and proceed to Raj Bhavan. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, all ministers, party MLAs, MLCs and MPs will participate. At the end of the march, we will submit an appeal to the governor,” he said.
He alleged that the governor showed undue haste in granting sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah without a preliminary investigation, but ignored requests against BJP and JDS leaders. “We have already brought to the governor’s attention the numerous appeals pending for sanction from the Lokayukta and SITs,” he added.
Shivakumar said the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team sent a letter to the governor on November 21, 2023, detailing charges against Kumaraswamy for the alleged illegal allocation of land to an iron ore mining company. “Despite a thorough investigation over ten years ago, no sanction has been granted,” he added.
He said the Lokayukta has sought sanction under Article 17a against former ministers Shashikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani and Janardhan Reddy in disproportionate asset cases. “In all these cases, the preliminary investigation is over, yet sanctions are still awaited,” he added.
On Kumaraswamy saying that the signature on the file in allotting land to the mining company is not his, Shivakumar said, “If that’s true, why hasn’t he complained to the police in these ten years?” He pointed out that Kumaraswamy applied for bail in the same case, admitting in his affidavit that he had approved the mining licence.
“Kumaraswamy, you took an oath on the Constitution. You can’t now claim that the signature isn’t yours, while admitting it in court during a bail application. If your signature was indeed forged, lodge a complaint,” he said.
Asked whether the government would investigate Kumaraswamy’s claims of forgery, he said, “Let him file a complaint first, we will investigate then. I don’t understand why he is delaying. He can even file an online complaint.”
On the land allocated to Jindal and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge’s Trust, he said, “All government decisions are open to public scrutiny. We will address these later. How much land did former CMs -- BS Yediyurappa and Basavraj Bommai -- allocate to various institutions?”