Daijiworld Media Network-Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru, Apr 27: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike(BBMP) assistant commissioner (advertisement) K Mathai has received his transfer order. What makes the transfer news is, this is his 24th transfer in 9 years.

Mathai had exposed a racket in the advertisement section of BBMP which caused a loss of Rs 2,000 crore to BBMP in the last eight years.

Mathai remains attached with the department of personnel and administration reforms till further orders. He has been charged with bringing a bad name to the institution he worked for (BBMP). His attitude of 'casting aspersion on his superiors' has not gone well with them.

In the eight reports on large-scale irregularities in the advertisement division, Mathai has named chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, former BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana, and other senior IAS officers N V Prasad and Rashmi Mahesh of taking some decisions that helped the mafia to swindle the BBMP in the advertisement section.

Mathai in one instance had even stated that Mukherjee had openly threatened him in the presence of chief minister Siddaramaiah who appreciated his good work.

N Narasimhamoorthy, under secretary in the urban development department, states in the transfer order that Mathai prepared several reports highlighting irregularities and circulated it in the media, though he was not asked to prepare these reports.

Mathai was also served with a show-cause notice but he continued to provide the media with reports which portrayed senior officers in poor light, the order says.

The order also reads. “Repeated attempts by the mayor, BBMP commissioner and senior Palike officials asking Mathai to mend his ways went in vain. Such behaviour has embarrassed the institution,”

The BBMP commissioner had also requested the state government to call back Mathai him to his parent department.