Former Minister S.R. Mahesh on Friday said he will be submitting his statement with documents against IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri to the Inquiry Officer appointed by the State Government during the latter’s visit to Mysuru on August 19.
Housing Secretary J. Ravishankar had been appointed by the State Government to hold a preliminary inquiry into the charges levelled against Ms. Sindhuri during her tenure as Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru.
Mr. Mahesh and former Mayor Shailendra V. Bheemrao, who had lodged a complaint against Ms. Rohini Sindhuri, had been summoned to appear before the Inquiry Officer at 11.30 a.m. on August 19, he said adding that he had gathered evidence in support of all the five charges he had made against the IAS officer.
The charges include violation of heritage conservation norms by constructing an indoor gym and swimming in the official residence of Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru, which is a heritage structure, and giving approval for purchase of eco-friendly cloth bags for distribution among local bodies of the district without obtaining the consent of the elected representatives of the local bodies and her alleged role in the oxygen shortage in Chamarajanagar hospital that led to the death of COVID-19 patients.
Mr. Mahesh told reporters in Mysuru on Friday that he will release a set of documents to the media too.
Mr. Mahesh hoped that the Karnataka High Court’s recent order abolishing the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and transferring all the pending cases to the Lokayukta police will expedite the case. Hitherto, the Chief Minister’s permission was required for the ACB to register a case. “So, the file was kept pending. Now that the High Court has scrapped the ACB, all the documents will be handed over to Lokayukta police. There is no permission required (from the Chief Minister) now”, he said.
LASHES OUT AT ASHWATH NARAYAN
Mr. Mahesh also lashed out at Minister for Higher Education Ashwath Narayan for taunting former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s reported stay at a star hotel when he helmed the coalition government. He said the official residence of the Chief Minister was not vacant then.. “As his house was in J.P. Nagar, Mr. Kumaraswamy was going to a private hotel near Vidhana Soudha for lunch and rest in the afternoon”, he said, while criticising Mr Ashwath Narayan for making it into an issue.
EoM
