From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 24: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has strongly justified the State Cabinet’s decision to withdraw permission to CBI to probe into the disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on the ground that the original permission given to CBI by the BJP government was ‘illegal’.

Speaking to media persons in Bengaluru after dedicating the Safe Command Centre being established in the City Police Commissioner’s office on Friday, Siddaramaiah said the decision to grant permission to CBI was taken by the previous BJP government headed by B S Yediyurappa was ‘illegal’ as it was an ‘oral permission’ and given without obtaining the approval of the then Assembly Speaker as required under law.

“The previous Yediyurappa government has not followed the prescribed procedure and the then Chief Minister had given oral permission without even considering the opinion of the then Advocate General or the nod from the Assembly Speaker merely out of political vendetta,’’ he said and the State Cabinet had reversed the ‘illegal’ permission.

Under the rules in Karnataka, the Chief Minister said: “It is mandatory to obtain prior permission from the government for conducting any investigation against anybody in government service. D K Shivakumar was not in government service but was an MLA in 2019, when the CBI was given permission to probe against him.’’

“The Chief Minister is required to take prior permission of the Assembly Speaker before any investigation could be taken up against an MLA and only afterwards the Chief Minister can issue the order,’’ he said.

Siddaramaiah said Yediyurappa had orally asked the then Chief Secretary to grant permission to CBI to probe against Shivakumar without following the mandatory requirement of seeking prior permission from the Speaker. The permission to CBI was accorded by the Chief Secretary based on the oral instruction of the then Chief Minister, which is illegal,’’ he explained.

Asked how the courts would treat the matter, the Chief Minister said: “I do not want to speculate on what the court is going to do. We have withdrawn the permission given to CBI flouting the law. All that the State Cabinet has decided is to withdraw the permission illegally granted to CBI.’’

To a question on the State Cabinet deciding to withdraw the permission given to CBI to probe against Shivakumar to save him, the Chief Minister said: “All that the State Cabinet has done is withdraw the permission illegally granted to CBI. I don’t want to comment on how the court will view the matter. The government cannot interfere in judicial matters.’’

Safe City Command Centre

The Chief Minister said the Safe City Command Centre established in the City Police Commissioner’s office at a cost of Rs 661.5 crore is a citizen friendly measure, for which the Union Government has borne 60% of the cost while the share of the State Government is 40%.

“The Safe City Command Centre is aimed at responding to any distress calls within 7 minutes. It is a boon to women, physically challenged and senior citizens by providing prompt assistance,’’ he said.

Siddaramaiah said the Safe City Command Centre has been established in eight different cities in the country, including Bengaluru.

Out of the 8 Safe City Command Centre Safe City Centres sanctioned by the Union Government, Bengaluru is the first city to complete the work and the cost of the building alone is Rs 12 crore.

Why BJP should crib if peoples’ money is given back to them, asks CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lashed out at BJP and other critics of the Congress government’s pro-people guarantee schemes, which have been widely accepted and welcomed by the people, and ridiculed the BJP by asking: Why should BJP leaders crib if the government moves to give back to people their own money?

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and others had criticised the guarantees and had gone to the extent of predicting bankruptcy of the State’s economy. Now, the people of the State are celebrating,’’ he said.

Addressing the State Transport Department’s programme ‘celebration of 100 crore women travel’ under the government’s flagship Shakti guarantee in Vidhana Soudha on Friday, he said the Congress government would never back down from its resolve to empower women and strengthen the poor in all categories and also the middle classes.

The Chief Minister also presented gold medals to drivers of the Transport Department with accident-free record.

Under the Shakti Guarantee implemented since June 11, a total of 100.47 crore women passengers have travelled free of cost in all government buses with the value of the tickets being Rs 2,37.87 crore. The government is happy that women are offered this guarantee which has enabled the women the freedom of travel, including visits to pilgrim centres.

Transport Minister B Ramalinga Reddy, Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Govindaraju, former MLA Sowmya Reddy and others were present.