KPSC scam: Karnataka Cabinet forms panel to decide on prosecution

The Cabinet on Tuesday constituted a sub-committee to decide on requesting the president to sanction prosecution of Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) members accused in the 2011 scam in the selection of candidates for gazetted probationer posts.

The sub-committee will include Law Minister J C Madhuswamy, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar.

The committee will look into previous judgments in the case before arriving upon a decision on whether or not to send a request to the president. Based on its recommendation, the Cabinet will take a final call on the issue, Madhuswamy told reporters on Tuesday. “There are many legal hurdles to this and there cannot be a unilateral decision. We need the president’s consent for prosecution. In the previous government, they had sought permission from the Governor, which is not correct as per procedure,” he said.

NMDC mining continued

That apart, the Cabinet also approved allowing NMDC to continue iron ore mining at Donimalai, Ballari.

Recently, a meeting in this regard was held between Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Union Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Under the new agreement, the state government’s royalty has been increased from the earlier 15% to 22.5%. The government is expecting an annual revenue of Rs 647 crore from this.

LED bulbs to Mysuru

Further, the Cabinet gave its nod to install LED bulbs in place of sodium vapour street lamps under Mysore City Corporation limits.

The project will be implemented over a span of seven years and the estimated cost is Rs 109.91 crore. Madhusway said this would be implemented on PPP model. The Cabinet also approved Rs 84.69 crore for the construction of DC’s office complex in Mysuru.