The BJP government in Karnataka came out firing on all cylinders in a desperate bid to discredit the second mining report, which reportedly indicts the state’s chief minister and four members of his cabinet.
Its special representative in the capital, New Delhi, Dhananjay Kumar cited the Commission of Enquiry Act wherein the government can reject a report if it comes in the public domain before it is submitted to the government.
An emotionally charged Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde however, dismissed the claim, saying that the sanctity of the report, selectively leaked on Wednesday, remained intact.
Justice Hegde also told this newspaper (see full interview inside) that only a small but nevertheless operative part of his report had been leaked and that he was racing to complete the annexure before he sent it to the printers on Friday.
The state’s chief secretary will receive the first report, most likely on Monday, with a copy being sent to the Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, sources said.
The state cabinet must approve the report if action is to be taken, the chief minister’s supporters said.
The Chief Minister who is holidaying with his family in Mauritius and may have had an inkling of what the report contained reportedly called in senior advocate Ram Jethmalani for consultations last week.
Some twit wants to play cm
A twitter message attributed to the chief minister is doing the rounds on Thursday’s development.
“Will hold press conference within a few days to answer all queries and expose the Congress conspiracy. Request party supporters to be patient. Congress’ mistaken that I will succumb to tactics of double standards and blackmail. Why is Delhi CM, convicted by Lokayuta, still continuing?” the tweet said.
However, the chief minister’s office has denied the tweet and claimed that BSY had no twitter account.
“We will approach cyber crime police on Friday and lodge a complaint," officials said.