Onus to furnish evidence on those issuing statements in PSI scam: Karnataka CM Bommai
Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said those issuing statements in connection with the police sub-inspector recruitment scam are responsible for what they say, and it is their duty to furnish documents and other evidences.
The statement came against the backdrop of Chittapur Congress MLA and former minister Priyank Kharge's denial to depose before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with his claims in a press conference on April 23 regarding the recruitment scam.
"People are responsible for what they say. It is their duty to provide documents and evidences to substantiate their claims," Bommai told reporters here.
He added that the documents submitted by them will be used for investigation.
Regarding Kharge's statement that corruption was rampant in the incumbent BJP government, Bommai said Congress is the 'Gangotri' of corruption. Being a person coming from a Congress family, Kharge knows it better, he added.
Bommai further said he did not need to learn lessons on honesty from Kharge.
The CID has served three notices to Kharge asking him to depose before it in connection with his statements in a press conference but he turned it down saying that the notices were served with mala fide intention.
In Belagavi, former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday claimed that Karnataka Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan's relative secured fifth rank in the sub-inspector examination.
"Ashwath Narayan's relative has also got selected. He scored fifth rank. He alone was spared and others were sent to jail. According to me, without the involvement of government and ministers, this scam would not have happened," the Congress leader told reporters.
Stating that getting justice from the government in the PSI recruitment scam was difficult, he said police officers, politicians and their relatives are also involved.
"The CID can be influenced. We demand that a court monitored investigation should be carried out," Siddaramaiah said.
Ashwath Narayan has come under the attack on previous occasions as well but the minister refuted the charge and termed it "baseless".
Meanwhile, 12 police officers including a deputy inspector general of police have been suspended for their role in the PSI scam.
The government has annulled the PSI recruitment exam after large-scale irregularities came to the fore.
Over 35 people including a BJP leader Divya Hagargi, the principal of a college in Kalaburagi, a few police officers, and the gunman of a Congress MLA have been arrested in connection with the case.
The exam was conducted in October last year to fill up 545 posts and over 54,000 people had written it. It is alleged that Rs 75 lakh was collected from a few candidates by middlemen.
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ED in SC opposes interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, says electioneering not fundamental right
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday opposed in the Supreme Court the grant of interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, saying the right to campaign in elections is neither fundamental nor constitutional.
In a fresh affidavit filed in the top court, the ED said no political leader has ever been granted interim bail for campaigning even if he is not contesting polls.
"It is relevant to note that the right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right," the agency said. It added that to its knowledge, "no political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning even though he is not the contesting candidate. Even a contesting candidate is not granted interim bail if he is in custody for his own campaigning".
On Wednesday, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who headed the bench that heard Kejriwal's petition against his arrest in the case, said, "We will pronounce the interim order (on bail) on Friday. The main matter related to the challenge to arrest will also be taken up on the same day."
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was arrested on March 21 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
On May 7, the bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, had reserved its verdict on Kejriwal's interim bail plea.
On Tuesday, a Delhi court extended Kejriwal's judicial custody in the case till May 20.
The Delhi High Court had, on April 9, upheld the AAP leader's arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
