Covid-19 purchase irregularities: Inquiry commission submits second interim report to Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: An inquiry commission probing alleged irregularities in the purchase of equipment and medicines during the Covid-19, under the previous BJP government, submitted its "second interim report" to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday.

Retired Judge Justice Michael D' Cunha, the commissioner of the inquiry commission, submitted the second interim report of 1,808 pages to Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister's office said in a statement.

The report consists of a total of seven volumes, out of which four volumes are on the scams and irregularities that took place in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) jurisdiction, it said.

Details related to the scams in the Bommanahalli zone, South zone, West zone, Yelahanka zones of the BBMP are in separate volumes.

The remaining three volumes are on the scams in the Bengaluru Urban district and Rural district, Gadag and Koppal districts, it added.

CM Siddaramaiah received the report in the presence of Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh.

The preliminary or the first interim report was submitted by Justice Michael D' Cunha on August 31, 2024.

The government had subsequently decided to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to take further action on the report.

The cabinet subcommittee that has been meeting frequently is examining the initial report, and has also initiated certain actions against officials involved based on it.

Last year, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had said the commission had recommended prosecution of the then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and former Health minister B Sriramulu.