JOIN USUrban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake on Tuesday said his department would look into the findings and merits of a report by the Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) commissioner K Mathai on the alleged irregularities and illegal allotment of sites by the Authority.
“We have received the report, but have not accepted it. We will send the report to the Home department for its perusal,” Sorake told reporters here. Sorake said the department had already handed over the initial case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The department is handing over all the documents pertaining to the case to the CBI.
“Whether this report also warrants to be handed over to the CBI is a decision which will be left to the Home department,” he said. The report, which was submitted on June 4 to the Urban Development department, speaks about a loss of Rs 300 crore to the State government by way of illegalities under various schemes. The report states that the government has already handed over the case pertaining to 107 sites to the CBI. Justifying the decision to hand over the case to CBI, Sorake said that the initial estimates of the scam were to the extent of Rs 23 crore. The misappropriated amount was transferred to accounts outside India, primarily to Australia, said the minister.
On Housing Minister M H Ambareesh’s reported request to transfer Mathai from the present post, Sorake said that he had not received any such request. “But he has already been promoted and transferred to Bidar. Due to the Lok Sabha elections, the transfer was withheld,” said the minister.
Sorake said that the department was trying to strengthen the Directorate of Urban Development and streamline the site allotment process in the City Corporations. He said that 50,000 sites in Mysore were remaining vacant, despite them being allotted to beneficiaries.