Mysuru affair must be probed

There seems to be more to the Mysuru saga than meets the eye, where two IAS officers were unceremoniously shunted out by the government after they indulged in a public spat. The controversy began when Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner Shilpa Nag alleged harassment by Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri and announced in a press conference that she was resigning from civil service unable to bear that harassment. Sindhuri, in turn, hurled serious allegations against Nag over the utilisation of CSR funds, charges that the latter has denied. It now transpires that the genesis of the problem rests elsewhere, with Sindhuri indicating that a land mafia, backed by powerful local politicians against whom she had waged a war, was behind the spat and had used it as an opportunity to oust her from Mysuru. Sindhuri has gone on record that the government has set a wrong precedent by transferring her and that no officer will dare to take on land-grabbers in future.

Controversy has followed Sindhuri often, but that should not be a reason to brush her charges under the carpet as they are of a serious nature. According to Sindhuri, the Karnataka High Court had some time ago ruled that some 1,500 acres of land at the foothills of Chamundi Hills, including the famed Lalitha Mahal Palace, belonged to private parties. The officer had taken it upon herself to recover this land, worth hundreds of crores of rupees, for the government by engaging the services of senior counsel Harish Salve to appear in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state. Sindhuri, who has named a former JD(S) minister in the land-grab case, has also accused city MLAs of opposing her for her efforts to stop encroachment of several lake beds.

Unfortunately, instead of ordering an inquiry into the charges, Chief Minister Yediyurappa has chosen to transfer Sindhuri and Nag out of their postings in Mysuru. That will effectively bury the whole affair. Sometime ago, when two police officers sparred over the alleged corruption in the Bengaluru safe city project, they too were transferred, and no inquiry was launched. The government is wrong to have adopted the same strategy again in the Mysuru case. The fact that almost all local politicians, save a few, had ganged up against Sindhuri raises suspicion. Unless the government orders an impartial inquiry and gets to the bottom of the issue, the public may be forced to conclude that the government does not want the whole truth to come out.