BENGALURU: Accusing two senior IAS officers of demanding 15% of the bid amount as commission, including 9% as illegal gratification to some people in the state government for awarding tenders for solid waste management packages, SN Balasubramaniam, general secretary of Bengaluru Mahanagara Swachata & Lorry Malikara Hagoo Guttigedarara Sangha, has filed a petition before the High Court of Karnataka seeking its directions to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a thorough investigation against the two officials.
The petition has been filed against Karee Gowda, chief executive officer, Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML), and Tushar Girinath, additional chief secretary, Urban Development Department.
When the matter was taken up for hearing by Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum on Thursday, counsel for the petitioner P Prasanna Kumar made the allegations against these officers.
However, advocate general K Shashikiran Shetty submitted that the allegations were false and both officers were honest. In fact, Karee Gowda was not in Bengaluru the day the petitioner claimed to have met him when he allegedly sought commission. Karee Gowda was in Delhi on some work, Shetty said, adding that the officer had a flight ticket to prove this.
However, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that he would file an affidavit in support of his allegations so that the court can order an inquiry to know the truth. To file the affidavit, the court adjourned the matter to Friday.
Sangha wants chief secretary to launch inquiry against 2 senior IAS officers
According to the petition, tenders were invited on July 30, 2025, for 33 packages of solid waste management. The petitioner submitted bids for three packages. After scrutiny, the petitioner was declared a successful bidder for Package No 1 CV Raman Nagar on January 2, 2026.
In the interregnum, Karee Gowda allegedly called the petitioner on March 10, 2026, both in his personal capacity as a bidder and in the representational capacity as the general secretary of the association of contractors. He allegedly told the petitioner to comply with certain “formalities” of the government and the board committee. He allegedly informed the petitioner that unless the “formalities” and “obligations” were fulfilled and complied with, the tenders would not be finalised. He allegedly told the petitioner that these were the direct instructions from some “higher people” in the government.
Karee Gowda allegedly told the petitioner that if he failed to pay the members of the board, particularly Tushar Girinath, who is the tender-accepting authority, his tenders would not be accepted.
When the petitioner asked to elaborate, Karee Gowda allegedly stated that the policy of the board, which includes Tushar Girinath, was that for the tenders to be finalised, 3% of the bid price for seven years should be paid to the board members. Further, 3% of the bid price should be paid to Tushar Girinath and those in his Urban Development Department, and 9% of the bid price to some people in the government as “illegal gratification” to finalise the tenders and to issue work orders.
Enraged by this, the petitioner filed a complaint with the chief secretary on March 11. Meanwhile, the chief general manager (CGM) of BSWML on March 25 informed the petitioner that the cumulative percentage had been reduced to 9% from 15%. On the same evening, CGM informed the petitioner that he was directed by Karee Gowda to cancel the tenders as he had not responded positively to the fulfilment of “formalities” and “obligations”.
Accordingly, the tenders dated July 30, 2025, were cancelled and the impugned notification was issued on March 25, the petitioner alleged. The petitioner also urged the court to issue directions to the chief secretary to initiate an inquiry against Karee Gowda and Tushar Girinath based on his complaint.