COVID-19 ‘scam’: D’Cunha report recommends prosecution of former CM Yediyurappa and then Health Minister Sriramulu

Justice D’Cunha Commission recommends prosecution of Karnataka ex-CM and ex-Health Minister over COVID-19 PPE kit procurement irregularities.

The Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission, which probed alleged irregularities in COVID-19 procurements and management in Karnataka, has recommended the prosecution of the then Chief Minister and the then Minister for Health and Family Welfare over the purchase of three lakh PPE kits from two Chinese firms in April 2020 at exorbitant rates though there was “no compelling reason”, extracts from the report available with The Hindu show.

B.S. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, and B. Sriramulu was the Health Minister when these purchase orders were issued. The commission has recommended their prosecution under sections 7 and 11 of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and for criminal breach of trust and disciplinary action against concerned officials.

Justice D’ Cunha submitted the interim report to the State government on August 31, and a Cabinet subcommittee is presently examining the report.

The report finds that 3 lakh PPE kits were procured through direct purchase orders without any tenders or exemption granted from the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999, from DHB Global Hong Kong (China) and Big Pharmaceuticals at a cost of over ₹2,000 per unit.

“The procurement was made purely on the directions of the CM and the Health Minister, GoK, without following the basic procurement rules and procedures,” the report stated. It further said that “the whole process was manipulated to grant the contract to the select and favoured supplier of the CM and the Health Minister apparently with a view to obtain unfair advantage”.

The report further said it found that the State government had procured a total of 18.07 lakh PPE kits during COVID-19 at a price ranging between ₹400 and ₹1,444.80, apart from this instance. It also noted instances of PPE kits being bought locally for a fraction of the cost procured from the two Chinese firms, both days prior to and after the said direct purchase order issued in the first week of April 2020.

“These purchases clearly point out that PPE kits were readily available in the domestic market at a reasonably lower rate, and therefore, there was no compelling reason to import PPE kits from China,” the report said.