‘40% commission’ row: Contractors’ body chief, 4 others held for defamation

Kempanna has been at the forefront of the fight against the alleged ‘40% commission’ in public works contracts awarded by the state government.

Bengaluru police on Saturday arrested D Kempanna, president of Karnataka State Contractors’ Association and four other office-bearers in connection with a defamation case filed by horticulture minister Munirathna.

Bengaluru police on Saturday arrested D Kempanna in connection with a defamation case filed by horticulture minister Munirathna. (Getty Images/Representative use)

Kempanna has been at the forefront of the fight against the alleged ‘40% commission’ in public works contracts awarded by the state government.

Along with Kempanna, the police arrested vice-presidents R Ambikapathy and V Krishna Reddy, treasurer HS Nataraj, and organising secretary BS Gurusiddappa of the association after a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued for not appearing before the court in connection with the case.

All five arrested were brought before the magistrate at his home. They were released after the magistrate granted them bail on Saturday.

In August, the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, for the first time, named and accused state cabinet minister Munirathna of allegedly demanding bribes from contractors. Kempanna had accused Munirathna of instructing an executive engineer to collect money from contractors and threatening him with suspension from duty if he failed to comply.

After Kempanna’s allegations, Munirathna warned that he would file a defamation case against him for making false accusations and asked him to back his claims with evidence. Muniratna then filed a civil defamation claiming ₹50 crore in damages and a criminal defamation case against Kempanna and 18 other-office bearers of the contractors’ association.

In response, Kempanna stated that over 200 contractors from Kolar had written to him regarding bribes sought by Munirathna, who is also the district in charge of Kolar.

The 8th ACMM Court hearing the criminal defamation case had issued a non-bailable warrant against Kempanna on December 19, following which the police arrested him.

The 40% commission row had made headlines in April after the death of Belagavi-based contractor Santosh Patil, who had accused BJP leader and former minister KS Eshwarappa of seeking a 40% commission for a government project. However, a police investigation gave a clean chit to Eshwarappa on charges of abetting the suicide, but Patil’s family moved a special court in Bengaluru against the police closure report.

After this, many contractors made similar allegations against government officials. The contractors’ association had launched a massive protest and threatened to stop all work for a month. However, they withdrew the protest after assurance from the state government to implement most of their demands.

They had brought up the issue of corruption in various departments of the government and claimed that since December of last year, the state government had not paid their bills. Additionally, they had sent letters to the Prime Minister and chief minister seeking their intervention.

Kempanna had said that despite raising the issue several times, none of their demands was met. He had alleged that local contractors were not able to get any work as people from other states got work orders because of high corruption.

According to Kempanna, there are 100,000 contractors under classes 1,2,3 and 4 in Karnataka. Out of this, 17,000 are class 1 and 2 contractors.

Besides, in April, the BBMP Contractors Association, which has 2,480 members, also alleged that the government did not clear bills since December last year. The association alleged rampant corruption by government officials, who demanded a 40% commission in the tender process.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday slammed the BJP-led government in the state over Kempanna’s arrest.

“Shoot the messenger, Protect the Corrupt! This is the #PayCM Govt of #Karnataka! The arrest politically motivated & vindictive arrest of Mr Kempanna by the #40PercentSarkara evidences it. CM @BSBommai cannot intimidate people exposing the truth,” Surjewala said on Twitter.