Special treatment to Sasikala; Not yet briefed on inquiry committee report, says HM M.B. Patil
Bengaluru, Jan 23: Karnataka Home Minister MB Patil Friday said he was yet to be briefed on the report of an enquiry committee that went into charges of preferential treatment to ousted AIADMK leader V K Sasikala at the prison here and would take action after discussions with department officials.
Patil, who took over as Home Minister after the cabinet rejig on December 22, asserted that nobody was above the law and there was no need to protect anybody.
"It has come to my notice through media reports about RTI. Nobody is above the law..." he told reporters here.
"There was inquiry. I'm holding discussions.Officially I'm yet to be briefed on it. I cannot act on media reports.
I have taken cognizance of media reports. I will discuss with our department officials and whatever is needed will be done. What is the need to protect anybody," he added.
An RTI query revealed that Sasikala was given special treatment in a prison here, where she is serving imprisonment in a corruption case, according to the report by an inquiry committee that went into the allegations by a senior police official.
The 295-page report by retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar confirmed that the then DIG (Prisons) D Roopa's claims in July 2017 that Sasikala was given preferential treatment and a separate kitchen functioned for her at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail here, RTI activist Narasimha Murthy had recently said.
Kumar had submitted his report to the government on November 17, 2017, but its contents were not made public.
Asked if action would be taken based on the report, Patil said "definitely. I have not been officially briefed about it.
I have to ascertain about it as the Home Minister and will act accordingly."
Sasikala is lodged at Parappana Agrahara central prison here ever since her conviction by the Supreme Court in February 2017 in the disproportionate assets case, along with her two relatives V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, all serving a 4-year jail term.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
