Bengaluru: A Court has issued an arrest warrant against Hassan JD(S) MP, Prajwal Revanna in connection with the sexual abuse charges. The warrant was issued on the requisition of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) after Prajwal Revanna failed to appear before the Special Investigation Team despite being served a notice, reported The Hindu.
This move is seen as a first step towards seeking the cancellation of his passport, which would compel him to return home. The case against Revanna involves a controversy surrounding explicit videos, leaked through numerous pen drives in Hassan, which allegedly show him sexually assaulting several women. These video clips emerged on social media shortly after the Second phase of the Lok Sabha elections held on April 26.
The Karnataka Police's SIT, formed to deal with the case, has been waiting for Prajwal’s return to Bengaluru to surrender to the team. The 33-year-old MP left for Germany on April 27, using a diplomatic passport, and has reportedly travelled to England from there.
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Bengaluru: Justice John Michael D’Cunha’s committee has uncovered significant irregularities in the procurement of medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing that more than 16 lakh RT-PCR test kits purchased by Karnataka in 2022 under the BJP-led government were either expired or close to their expiry dates.
After irregularities in PPE kit purchases, ventilators have also come under the scanner, with the report highlighting discrepancies amounting to Rs 173.26 crore in purchases made by the Medical Education Department.
The commission has also found that the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd. (KSMSCL) that cancelled a supply order for one lakh Rapid Antigen (RAT) kits placed with a Singapore-based company in March 2020 — for delay in supplying — has not recovered the Rs 6.99 crore paid to the company towards the order, as reported by The Hindu on Thursday.
According to the 279-page report on procurements made by the KSMSCL that is compiled in part IV of the report, a payment of Rs 148.84 crore was made by KSMSCL to various suppliers and firms towards procurement of RT-PCR kits from 2020 to 2022.
The Commission’s report, as cited by the publication, stated that there were records indicating procurement of RT-PCR kits, RNA extraction kits and Viral transport media (VTM) of a total value of Rs 106.25 crore during the pandemic in Karnataka. However, according to the report, this procurement was made without administrative approval.
“Since the KSMSCL has failed to discharge its obligation and responsibility, the loss caused to the State exchequer to this extent is required to be replenished by the erring officers and/or officials of the KSMSCL as well as the officers and/or officials of the consignee designated laboratories who received the consignment,” the report said, pegging the losses due to expired kits supplied by companies at Rs 3.11 crore.
In response to the report’s findings, state Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao criticised the saffron party for profiting from the pandemic. He promised accountability for the irregularities involving PPE kits and ventilators, stating that those responsible would face punishment.