'40% commission' probe to cover 1,344 days of BJP rule: Congress

The Karnataka government has asked retired High Court Justice H N Nagamohan Das to probe the ‘40% commission’ allegation for works carried out between July 26, 2019 and March 31, 2023, the period in which the BJP was in power.

Justice Das, who is heading a one-man commission to investigate the '40% commission' allegation, had sought clarity from the government on the timeline of his probe.

The government was also asked by him to clarify whether or not he should look into works under the BBMP as Deputy CM D K Shivakumar has already constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to verify claims of irregularities in city-related projects.

The government has specified that the Justice Das Commission will cover the BBMP, BDA, the departments of Public Works, Rural Development & Panchayat Raj and Water Resources.

Justice Das had also sought clarity on the minimum and maximum cost of works that qualify under the probe. The government has said that works of all costs should be probed.

The Commission is expected to submit its report within three months of beginning the probe.

Covid-19 probe

In a separate notification, the home department has issued terms of references to the Justice John Michael Cunha Commission set up to probe irregularities in the management of Covid-19.

According to the notification, the probe will cover the period starting with the first lockdown till December 31, 2022. BJP was in power when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

Justice Cunha, who is best known for delivering a judgment convicting former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case, has been asked to submit his report within three months.

The commission will look into questions of irregularities raised by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) pertaining to procurements, allegations of tender violations at the Kidwai Institute, oxygen shortage, allocation of beds and so on.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, when he was Leader of the Opposition, had claimed that Covid-19 irregularities were in excess of Rs 2,000 crore.