ChIef Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that his government will act on the report of the Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission, which was formed to investigate the alleged corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic under the BJP rule.
Addressing the media here, Siddaramaiah confirmed that the state cabinet will soon discuss the commission’s report and the government would take steps to prosecute those involved, including former CM BS Yediyurappa and former health ministers B Sriramulu and Dr Sudhakar, in the alleged scam.
“I had raised concerns over this scam while I was the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, presenting documents that showed misappropriation of over Rs 2,000 crore,” he said. “They chose to buy medical equipment from overseas suppliers at inflated prices instead of procuring them locally,” the CM said. he said it is the government’s duty to take action against those involved. The BJP may claim that this is political vendetta, but his only intention is to ensure that those responsible for the scam are held accountable, he added.
The commission has recommended prosecution of then CM Yediyurappa and then health minister B Sriramulu under Sections 7 and 11 of the Prevention of corruption Act. It has also recommended action against officials responsible for procuring 3 lakh PPE kits from chinese firms at inflated prices.
The commission has submitted a 1,500-page document, and a cabinet sub-committee is examining it, said Health Minister dinesh Gundu Rao. “As per the report, Yediyurappa and Sriramulu were directly involved in irregularities in the purchase of PPE kits.
An inquiry will be ordered. My sincere advice to both of them is to refrain from campaigning for bypolls. Sriramulu’s successor (Dr Sudhakar) will also be probed,” Siddaramaiah said.
The commission has submitted its interim report and another will follow, he added. Meanwhile, AS Ponnanna, legal adviser to Siddaramaiah, said the cabinet has accepted the interim report, which has recommended criminal prosecution of Yediyurappa, former cM Basavaraj Bommai, Sriramulu and Dr Sudhakar. Sources said the probe revealed that Yediyurappa and Sriramulu approved purchase of PPE kits from china at Rs 2,117.53 per unit against Rs 2,049.84, as per the records of a price fixation committee meeting held in April 2020.
On the pretext of urgency, a decision was taken by invoking the special clause of the karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act to bypass competitive bidding, sources alleged.
The commission said there were cases of kSMScL procuring PPe kits from domestic suppliers at lower rates. It questioned why the government preferred to import them. Prices in the domestic market ranged from Rs 400 to Rs 1,444.80. But the government paid double the amount to dHB Global, a foreign company, the report noted.
When the commission was set up, the accused officers did not cooperate and furnished files related to the procurement process. But the commission managed to access important files through e-mails to establish that irregularities had taken place, a source said.