Co-op minister gives clean chit to DKS in housing society case

Cooperation Minister H S Mahadev Prasad on Thursday gave a clean chit to his Cabinet colleague and Energy Minister D K Shivakumar with regard to his involvement in irregularities in Shantinagar Housing Cooperative Society.

“I have gone through the file pertaining to the society. I did not find his (Shivakumar) name in any document or correspondence, nor is there any complaint against him from any shareholder,” he said in reply to reporters’ query on charges that Shivakumar and his family members had grabbed valuable land meant for the society.

Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy and former legislator A T Ramaswamy had recently petitioned the government, urging it to refer the matter to the CBI for a thorough investigation. Doreswamy had even staged a dharna in front of the cooperation minister’s office recently, demanding the CBI probe. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had charged the Energy Minister and his brother - Congress MP D K Suresh - with grabbing 66 acres of land allotted by the then government led by Ramakrishna Hegde to the Society for distributing sites to dalits and the poor.

Prasad said he would obtain legal opinion on the charges of violation of seniority norms in site allotment and allotment of sites to non-members of the Society. The government will take an appropriate action based on legal opinion, he said.

The minister, however, skirted a question on whether the government intends to refer the issue to the CBI. He argued that the issue had already been settled in various courts in the past. All transactions have happened between 2003 and 2006 and all disputes were settled. None of the shareholders or the site aspirants has lodged a complaint against the Society, he added.

Amendment bill
This apart, Prasad said the government was planning to bring in amendments to the Karnataka Cooperation Act in the coming budget session of the legislature, enabling housing cooperative societies to easily secure land in bulk. Currently, the societies cannot purchase more than 50 acres at a time. Besides, the department is planning to ensure speedy approvals for layout formation through a single window system, he added.

Notice to KMF chairman
He said the department had issued a fresh show-cause notice to KMF chairman P Nagaraj, who was recently disqualified by the government over reported irregularities. He was reinstated to the post as the government set aside the disqualification order on the grounds that he was not given enough time to reply to the notice.