Speaker competent authority to decide on disqualification: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru,Feb 14: Talking tough, Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah Thursday said his petition seeking disqualification of four disgruntled party MLAs was pending with the Speaker, who is the competent authority to take action under the anti-defection law.
The former Chief Minister said his petition to the Speaker has nothing to do with the four MLAs attending the session since Wednesday, as he noted that the legislators have violated the whip in earlier instances.
"There is no link between them (MLAs attending session and petition to the speaker), as they (MLAs) did not come earlier despite issuing whip, we moved the petition," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question whether letter to the Speaker will be withdrawn.
Stating that the disgruntled MLAs have not met him, on the question of reconsidering his decision, he said "the petition has already been given.
It is with the Speaker and Speaker is the competent authority to take action under the anti-defection law."
Four disgruntled Congress MLAs, who had gone missing for several weeks amid political turmoil in Karnataka, surfaced here Wednesday two days after the party recommended their disqualification to the Speaker.
The lawmakers had kept the party on tenterhooks for several weeks, defying its whip twice to attend the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meetings on January 18 and February 8.
They had also skipped the assembly Budget Session since February 6.
The four Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jadhav, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumathali were reported to be in touch with the BJP, which has been accused of trying to poach the MLAs to bring down the JDS-Congress government.
The MLAs were upset ever since the cabinet reshuffle and expansion on December 22 that saw Jarkiholi's removal.
The Congress had petitioned the Speaker on Monday, seeking action against the four MLAs after warning them to mend their ways and fall in line.
The MLAs were earlier given notices, seeking an explanation for their conduct.
According to sources, the four decided to attend the proceedings to vote in favour of the finance bill, to save themselves from the disqualification move.
Siddaramaiah also hit out at the BJP and its chief B S Yeddyurappa for not allowing the discussion on budget and various issues during the assembly session.
"It clear shows for them (BJP) personal interest was more important than public interest...Yeddyurappa has hunger for power to become Chief Minister. They have failed miserably in their duties," he added.
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21 hours raid fetch nothing for ED, claims Karnataka Cong MLA’s son
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris' son Mohammed Haris Nalapad on Tuesday claimed that the 21 hours of search by the ED in his house and other locations did not fetch anything.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of the two sons of Haris (Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad), Aqeeb Khan, grandson of ex-Union cabinet minister K Rahman Khan and an alleged crypto hacker named Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki in a crypto currency-linked money laundering case.
More than a dozen premises in the city have been covered as part of the action executed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"My grandfather is 89-year-old. There is not a single bad mark. My father (N A Haris) is a four-time MLA. There is not a single accusation against him. Their only intention was to target myself and my brother. As simple as that," Mohammed Nalapad, who is a former Karnataka Youth Congress president, told reporters.
According to him, the ED officials carried out raids for 21 hours.
"After 21 hours of search, they took away only two mobile phones from our house. They did not get a single paisa. The ED will testify it," the Congress leader said.
Exuding faith in the law, he said he is ready to fight the case in court.
"Me and my father have opted for politics and we are in public life. You can call me whatever you want but I have not done anything wrong," Mohammed Nalapad said.
Regarding his relationship with Sriki, he said he knew him but had no clue what he was doing.
"I have never said that either me or my brother do not know Sriki. But how will I know what he does in his house? Can his crimes be linked to us," he asked.
The money laundering case stems from some Karnataka Police FIRs and chargesheets filed in a 2017 case of hacking of national and international websites, stealing of bitcoins and sale of these 'stolen' virtual digital assets (VDA) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
The Nalapad brothers and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be the beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this alleged crypto-linked crime, the ED said.
