Palike remains haven for tainted netas, babus

No action against 19 corporators, officials facing graft charges

With complaints of grafts pouring in against the corporators and officials of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Lokayukta police have asked the Palike to act on the ‘errant’ officials.

In a letter despatched 10 days ago to the Palike, the Lokayukta ADGP stated that a total of 19 people, including Katta Jagadish of Vasanthnagar and Govindaraju of Ganesh Mandira, had either been trapped or raided by the Lokayukta police in 2010 and 2011.

Out of the 70 trap and raid cases handled by the Lokayukta police in 2010, seven cases belonged to the BBMP. In 2011, among the 74 cases, 10 had involvement of the Palike officials.

The letter sent to the BBMP commissioner advises the Palike to be more transparent and monitor the style of  functioning of both senior and lower rank officials. Sources said, as of now, the Palike has the highest number of officials trapped by the Lokayukta. Most of them are raided for disproportionate assets and inquries into their cases are pending.

But the Palike seems to have been apathetic towards the increasing cases of corruption. Of the 19 people, 13 continue to hold the same posts.

When contacted, the BBMP Commissioner claimed that he was yet to take note of the letter despatched by the Lokayukta. “The letter, if despatched, must be at the administration section. We will take action,” he said.

Sources in the BBMP, however, confirmed that the letter had reached the commissioner’s desk on February 15. It is learnt that one of the recommendations made by the BBMP administration division is to create a special cell for scrutiny of complaints registered against their employees

. The cell is likely to be headed by a senior Palike official who will be directed to investigate into charges of bribery or misconduct against the personnel.

A precedence has been set previously by the BBMP to repatriate those officials against whom charges of misconduct have been alleged, to their parent departments as the Palike is not authorised to take any action against them. Officials found guilty are deprived of perks and are removed from their positions in future, the sources added.