Irregularities in KEONICS to be probed by Nagmohan Das Committee

Launching a counter-attack on the Opposition BJP that has accused him of indulging in corruption in Keonics, IT&BT and RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday announced that he would hand over investigations into alleged irregularities during the erstwhile BJP regime, unearthed by the CAG, to the Justice Nagmohan Das committee.

Launching a counter-attack on the Opposition BJP that has accused him of indulging in corruption in Keonics, IT&BT and RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday announced that he would hand over investigations into alleged irregularities during the erstwhile BJP regime, unearthed by the CAG, to the Justice Nagmohan Das committee.

The committee is already looking into the allegations of payment of commission for awarding contracts and paying bills during the erstwhile BJP regime.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Mr. Priyank said the CAG report had unearthed irregularities to the tune of ₹500 crore in the transactions and procurements made by KEONICS. He said such a probe by the committee will throw more light into the irregularities and help identify the guilty.

Stating that the findings of the CAG report had clearly shown that irregularities had taken place during the earlier regime, he remarked that the BJP had unleashed its “factory of lies” to cover up its own misdeeds.

Denying the BJP’s charges that bills of contractors had not been settled as they had not paid commission, he said all the bills had been paid but for a few totalling up to ₹16 crore. Even those bills had been kept pending as per instructions as they were yet to be subject to third party inspection to ensure authenticity which was a mandatory norm as per the Finance Department’s protocol, he said.

He said the BJP leaders were upset as he had kept those bills pending to ensure authenticity and adhere to transparency. The BJP regime had indulged in large-scale irregularities in KEONICS, including those in procurements and sales, he alleged.

Meanwhile, Mr. Priyank, along with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Thursday morning inaugurated the Philips Innovation Campus in Bengaluru. The campus is 6,50,000 sq.ft. and can accommodate 5,000 professionals. Roy Jakobs, CEO Royal Philips, was also present at the event.