Anti-graft body pulls up Karnataka MLAs

Mangaloretoday.com

Bangalore, Jan 27: Less than a month after the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka inducted controversial party leader R. Roshan Baig into the Cabinet, the state anti-corruption body Lokayukta has served a notice to him for failing to declare his assets and liabilities for the financial year 2012-13.

Besides Baig, who is the Minister for Infrastructure Development, Haj & Information, two other Congress MLAs - Muniratna Naidu and B.A. Mohiuddin Bava - have also been issued notices by the Lokayukta.

 

This comes as good news for Siddaramaiah’s political rivals as Congress had taken a strong stand "against corruption" in the state following the alleged "maladministration" by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Controversial Congress leader R. Roshan Baig (left) and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

According to the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984, it is mandatory for all elected representatives of the Assembly to declare their assets and liabilities for every financial year on or before June 30. Any violation of this rule is considered an offence and invites a legal action and penalty.

Baig was inducted into the Cabinet on January 1 along with senior leader D.K. Shivakumar, despite strong opposition from within the party and criticism from rival parties.

However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah contended that the charges against the two ministers were not "serious".

Other than the three Congress MLAs, former minister C.P. Yogeshwara of the Samajwadi Party and K. Srinivasamurthy of the Janata Dal (Secular) have also not declared their assets and liabilities for 2012-13.

The Lokayukta, last year, had published the violators’ names in three newspapers but it did not prompt Baig or the others from declaring their assets.