4 officials under Lokayukta scanner
The Fourth Additional District and Session Court Special Judge Rajendra Badamikar has directed the superintendent of police, Lokayukta, Belgaum, to investigate charges of corruption levelled against principal secretary, Primary and Secondary Education Department, and four others, and submit a report by March 31.
The court was hearing a private complaint filed by Shankar Munavalli under Section 200 CrPC against G Kumar Naik, principal secretary, Primary and Secondary Education Department; R G Nadaduru, former principal secretary; Venkatesh Machaknur, former education commissioner, Dharwad; B V Kulkarni, incumbent education commissioner, Dharwad; and Rev Dr Prabhakar Shadrak, district superintendent, South India Regional Conference, District Methodist Education Committee, Belgaum.
Munavalli, in his complaint, contended that the four officers had committed offences punishable under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, misused their power, and caused losses to the government to the tune of Rs 60 crore to Rs 80 crore. He said they had also abetted the Methodist Church of India “in cheating students by collecting donations, and in the recruitment process”.
The complainant claimed that he had also sought the permission of the governor to prosecute the officers. He furnished copies of inquiry reports to the court and contended that the institutes run by the South India Regional Conference, District Methodist Education Committee, Belgaum, were registered in 2009.
Munavalli, who had named Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishveshwar Hedge Kageri as the main accused in his complaint, withdrew the minister’s name at the last minute.
