Lokayukta drops four MLCs' from defaulters' list

The Lokayukta’s office on Monday issued a corrigendum by dropping the names of four MLCs from the newspaper publication it had issued for not filing the statements of assets and liabilities.

The names of MLCs—V S Ugrappa, Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi, Jayamala and Ivan D’Souza—were withdrawn since they were not members of the Legislative Council during the financial year 2013-14.

The corrigendum read: “The names of (the) following members of (the) Legislative Council mentioned in the last para of the press note issued on September 2 are dropped.”

On Monday, addressing a press conference, Ugrappa said that following the issue of notice to him on September 2 for not filing assets and liabilities for the financial year 2013-14 by June 30, he had submitted before the Lokayukta that he was nominated to the Legislative Council only on June 24, 2014, and was not liable to file his returns for the financial year 2013-14.

“The office of the Lokayukta realised its mistake and withdrew the notice issued. While I appreciate the gratitude of the Lokayukta for admitting its mistake, severe embarrassment was caused to me as my name was released to the media. I hope such lapses do not recur,” Ugrappa said.