Special court summons Somanna in assets case

Special court issues summons to Somanna for appearance in assets case

In fresh trouble for Housing Minister V Somanna, a special court for elected representatives (MPs/MLAs/MLCs) issued summons to him in a case of disproportionate assets under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Special court judge B Jayantha Kumar rejected the report submitted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and posted the matter to April 16 for Somanna’s appearance.

A private complaint was filed by RTI activist Ramakrishna, a resident of Bengaluru, alleging that Somanna had disproportionate assets during the check period between 1993 and 1994, and 2009 and 2010. The complainant said Somanna was a sales assistant at Janata Bazaar between 1974 and 1983 before he got into politics and held positions as a councillor, MLA, MLC and minister during the check period.

The complainant claimed to have found huge discrepancies in the declarations made by Somanna before the authorities, including the election commission and the Lokayukta. It was stated that the total value of assets and expenditure for the check period was Rs 18.49 crore. Thus, the disproportionate assets was Rs 12.42 crore, the complainant alleged.

On his application, the court had in 2016 referred the matter for investigation under Section 202 of the CrPC. The ACB police had submitted its report in 2018 stating that Somanna’s income and expenditure were more than the assets and, therefore, he has not committed any offence.

The special court observed that there was no proper investigation in accordance with the law by taking into consideration the formula to calculate disproportionate assets. The court said it was for the accused to explain how he acquired the assets after he entered politics.

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