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Karnataka IT minister resigns
Karnataka information technology minister Katta Subramanya Naidu resigned on Friday in the wake of corruption charges filed against him in a multidimensional land case of 2006. See cartoon
Karnataka information technology minister Katta Subramanya Naidu resigned on Friday in the wake of corruption charges filed against him in a multidimensional land case of 2006. Naidu said he resigned on moral grounds. “I am confident that I would be proved innocent,” Naidu told reporters, announcing his resignation.
The BJP, to which Naidu belongs, interpreted the resignation as a move to facilitate an impartial probe by the Lok Ayukta into the land cases against him and his family members. Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa told reporters, “I have received his resignation and forwarded the same to the governor for acceptance.”
The resignation came a day after Lok Ayukta police charged Naidu, his wife, Saubhagya, son Katta Jagadish, and seven others with forgery, cheating, floating fictitious companies and taking compensation from a government agency for land that did not belong to them.
Katta Jagadish, who is a corporator, and Saubhagya have been accused of wrongdoing while claiming compensation for the land they sold to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) in 2006.
Jagadish had got Rs 40 lakh from the KIADB for selling a 1.5-acre plot when the rate was Rs 10-15 lakh an acre. Saubhagya received a compensation of Rs 4 crore for a plot priced at just Rs 9 lakh, sources said. The manner in which they obtained the land is also being investigated.
The minister, who then held the industries portfolio in the HD Kumaraswamy government, was also charged with misusing his office to facilitate the process.
Katta Jagadish was arrested in September after he allegedly tried to bribe a witness in a related land scam case being investigated by Lok Ayukta police.
Naidu is the fourth minister in the state government to resign in controversial situations since the BJP came to power in 2008.
