AG clean chit for Suresh Kumar

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Less than 72 hours after he quit over allegations he had suppressed information while seeking a site, Advocate General, S. Vijayshankar reportedly gave a clean chit to law and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar, paving the way for his return to government.

The BJP’s Mr Nice Guy who was in the dock after an allegation was made over the allotment of a ‘G’ category site had appealed to Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to institute a probe. Through the day, the AG examined the records pertaining to the allegations against the minister and pronounced him clean, before submitting the report to state government on Monday evening.

“There is no procedural lapse on the part of the minister while obtaining ‘G’ category site,” the AG reportedly stated in his report. “Allegations were made against him with malafide intention. There is no substance to the allegation,” he added. Sources close to the Advocate General also said the site was allotted to the minister in accordance with law and the minister was therefore, not guilty. Sources close to Mr Kumar said however that he was yet to withdraw his resignation. “The report has reached the CM, Mr Sadananda Gowda, reportedly told Mr Kumar that the former would reveal the details to the public, following which Mr Kumar was likely to withdraw his resignation,” sources said.

Nidumamidi seer backs Suresh Kumar
Law and parliamentary affairs minister S Suresh Kumar, who resigned following allegations that he suppressed details to obtain a site in Bengaluru, has received support from unexpected quarters—Veerabhadra Chennamalla swami of Nidumamidi math.

The seer said though there could be some technical errors, they must not be held against honest persons like Mr Suresh Kumar. “We are looking for role models, be it in politics or any other sphere of public life. People with integrity are difficult to find. Among them, people like Mr Suresh Kumar stand tall. People have a lot of expectation from honest people. When they make a small mistake, it looks big. The same thing happened to Justice Shivaraj Patil, who resigned as Lokayukta in the wake of allegations about acquisition of sites,” the seer added.

The seer demanded a judicial probe into allotment of G-category sites since 1991, and introduction of a new policy on allotment of such sites. “We know that politicians, bureaucrats, litterateurs, even have been allotted G-category sites by various governments. Under the new policy, the government should allot them only for the homeless,” he added.