JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday that his “hands were tied” in presenting the truth before the legislature. Citing the High Court stay on producing the CID’s status report on the case, Siddaramaiah, in a written statement, said that he was helpless in this regard.
Speaking in the Assembly, the chief minister said that the Opposition parties were making baseless charges and this had come in the way of maintaining peace in the State. It was the responsibility of the government to check the same. In this background, he had intended to table the CID progress report in the House, he added.
Siddaramaiah said that the CID was doing a professional job when it came to investigation. The probe was going on at a brisk pace. Some people had concocted stories, but the government had no intention of hiding anything, the chief minister said. In a federal system, the Centre could intervene only when it became inevitable. There was no inter-state involvement in the case and hence, the CID was equipped to handle the case.
“There is no hesitation to hand over the case to the CBI. But there are apprehensions that handing over the case to the CBI would leave the CID demoralised. That is the reason why I had not initially handed over the case to the CBI,” he argued. Yet, the chief minister said, the government decided to refer the case to the CBI. This was in response to public sentiments and the desire of Ravi’s parents.
The BJP and the JD(S) had jointly pressured Siddaramaiah to refer the case to the CBI on the grounds that Ravi was getting threatening calls from the land mafia and influential people in the government to hush up tax evasion cases. They had hit the streets in protest against the government.
Even religious leaders had joined the chorus of the public and netizens to demand a CBI probe. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, too, wanted Siddaramaiah to go by the sentiments of the people.
Siddaramaiah said the Opposition had tried to gain political mileage from Ravi’s death. This did not go down well with the BJP members in the Assembly.
“It is unfortunate that the Opposition tried to make political gains out of Ravi’s death. You made false accusations against the government. You made use of Ravi’s family to whip up emotions. You brought Ravi’s parents to Bengaluru and made them protest in front of Vidhana Soudha. This reflects your insensitivity,” Siddaramaiah said. He recalled that the BJP had in the past called the CBI, the Chor Bachao Investigation or Congress Bachao Investigation.
“You should be ashamed that you are now demanding that the case be handed over to the same agency. I have never spoken against the CBI,” Siddaramaiah said.
Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar demanded that Siddaramaiah should take back his words. But the chief minister continued even as Congress and BJP members tried to shout each other down.