Karnataka govt orders probe into '40 per cent commission scam'

Justice Das, who is heading the probe, has been asked to submit his report within 30 days, according to an order issued by the public works department.

Taking aim at the BJP, the Siddaramaiah administration has appointed retired High Court Justice HN Nagamohan Das to investigate the ‘40 per cent commission’ allegation that rocked state politics and became a key poll plank for the Congress to wrest power.

Justice Das has been asked to submit his report within 30 days, according to an order issued by the public works department.

The probe will cover five work-heavy departments - public works, urban development, water resources, minor irrigation and rural development & panchayat raj.

The primary mandate of the one-man committee is to look into allegations levelled by the Karnataka State Contractors Association in its letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2021 and former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in August 2021, March and April 2022.

The Association had claimed that contractors pay a 25-30 per cent cut before the start of civil works and 5-6 per cent for post-work bills. They also complained that a “package system” (bundling up of multiple works) favoured contractors from outside Karnataka.

“Till date, no investigation was done by the government on these serious allegations. With a new government in place, there's a need to bring transparency in the administration,” the order stated.

Apart from investigating the ‘40 per cent commission’ allegation, the government has asked Justice Das to examine 10 aspects: legality in approving projects, quality of works, veracity of cost estimates, any increase in quantity of works, any unreasonable variation in carrying out works, if any bills were raised without completion of works, unjust tender conditions to favour a few contractors, the involvement of authorised agencies to ensure quality of materials and equipment, any other lapses during tendering, and matters that are discovered during investigation.

During Siddaramaiah's first term as CM, Justice Das headed a committee that recommended 'religious minority' tag for Lingayats. When the JD(S)-Congress coalition was in power, he was picked to head a commission on hiking SC/ST reservation.

Siddu dares Modi

Siddaramaiah dared Modi to have corruption allegations against the union government investigated.

“We have walked the talk by constituting a committee to investigate the 40 per cent commission allegation against your previous BJP government. When will you act upon the CAG report against your government and stand by your proclamation of ‘Na Khaunga, Na Khane Doonga’?” Siddaramaiah said in a series of tweets.

Siddaramaiah also raised corruption allegations on the construction of the Ayodhya Ram temple and the PM-CARES fund.