At a time when Ramesh Jarkiholi's alleged CD case has been in the news, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said the previous Congress government had hushed up the sex scandal allegedly involving former minister H Y Meti.
In December 2016, a video allegedly showing Meti with a woman had surfaced, leading to his resignation from the Cabinet of the then chief minister Siddaramaiah.
“The Congress is saying that the SIT that has been constituted (to look into the Ramesh Jarkiholi sex scandal) has no terms of reference and that it has been asked to only inquire and submit a report. In the Meti case, a CID inquiry was ordered and it was asked to submit a report. There was no FIR then. They’re opposing what we’ve done, but they did the same thing,” Bommai told reporters.
“Secondly, the report of inquiry was submitted on July 4, 2017 and a clean chit was given. The case was closed on February 22, 2018 with a ‘B’ report. The inquiry officer and the investigating officer were the same person,” Bommai said, adding that the Congress “hushed it up” and that the party had no moral right to question the government.
Bommai further pointed out that unlike in the case of former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, there was a complaint filed by a woman against Meti. "Still, no action was taken."
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah defended himself saying Meti was given a clean chit following an inquiry. “Before that, I had taken his resignation,” he said. “The facts of (Jarkiholi’s) case are different from (Meti’s) case.”
Siddaramaiah said an inquiry or investigation needed to have an FIR first. "This is the basic principle of criminal jurisprudence. Where's the cause of action here?" he asked.
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