BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader V S Ugrappa on Friday continued his campaign against Upa Lokayukta Subhash K Adi, accusing him of not paying enough attention to a Rs 676 crore scam.
Justice Adi had disposed of a complaint against the Commissioner of the Hubballi-Dharwad City Corporation in 2013 without holding a proper inquiry, the MLC alleged. The case allegedly involves many officials, politicians and contractors.
Ugrappa said the previous BJP government had released Rs 676.71 crore for various municipal works, but the funds had largely been misused. “An advocate had lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta seeking an inquiry,” he told reporters. The case was to be assigned to S B Majage, who was also an Upa Lokayukta then, but was handled by Adi, Ugrappa said.
Adi had referred the matter to the Dharwad deputy commissioner and given him six months to submit a report. “This had raised suspicion over the intentions of Adi. Prima facie, it appears the accused were allowed to go scot free,” said Ugrappa.
The deputy Commissioner, looking into charges, gave the officials a clean chit and communicated his conclusion to the Lokayukta. Based on that report, Adi dismissed the case, stating the complainant had not named the beneficiaries or come up with corroborative evidence.
Complainant Mohan Maligera, who was also present at the interaction, alleged Adi had dismissed the case to protect BJP leaders like former chief minister Jagadish Shettar.