Karnataka Launches Special Investigation Into Alleged Covid Scams During BJP’s Tenure

The Karnataka Congress government has kick-started a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged corruption and mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic by the previous BJP administration. This move follows the preliminary report of the Justice Michael D’Cunha Committee, alleging potential misconduct against the previous government.

Karnataka Minister MB Patil said the state government had decided to form the SIT to probe the interim report of the Justice Michael D’Cunha Committee, which has made claims. The SIT will essentially try to probe into the actions brought out in the report and help move further towards accountability.

“The world has seen a huge tragedy during COVID-19, and our state suffered significantly. The earlier government, which was supposed to protect the people, indulged in corruption, irresponsibility, and dishonesty,” Minister Patil said. He made it abundantly clear that the SIT would go into details regarding the allegations of corruption and start filing FIRs against those who are found guilty.

Tight Focus On Corruption During Pandemic

The probe zeroes in on certain high-profile issues-the ‘rigging’ of death audits and over-pricing of crucial medical requirements. Minister Patil made grave allegations at procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, which are available in India at ₹ 300/- ₹ 400/- for which the kits have allegedly been purchased at ₹ 2, 117/- apiece thus inducing a heavy financial irregularity.

“The previous government made inhuman decisions during the pandemic. The death audit system was completely abandoned, and thousands of deaths went unrecorded. In Bengaluru alone, ambulances carrying bodies queued up, while the official death count stood at just 3,000,” Patil asserted.

PPE Kit Scam

In addition, Patil threw light upon other instances of alleged corruption, like procurement of outdated medicines at up-scaled rates, and making deals with blacklisted companies. According to him, the Public Audit Committee (PAC) has already done an in-depth investigation and found out a lot of discrepancies and irregularities in the management of Covid-related resources.

Patil further said that the SIT would start acting upon the interim report released by the Justice D’Cunha Commission. The commission had inspected more than 50,000 files and submitted its findings, due to which Karnataka State took appropriate measures. “That is not about the money recovery. We want justice to be served, and these guilty people should be brought before the law,” Patil further added.

Political Leaders React To Investigation

Siddaramaiah, the former Chief Minister, was vocal in his criticism against BJP leadership of the earlier times, for corruption during the coronavirus pandemic. He believed divine forgiveness would never cut off the heads of those who benefited from the crisis and that people of Karnataka should not forgive former leaders over such behavior.

Siddaramaiah’s statement akin to some other Congress leaders, who persistently claimed that serious-level corruption in pandemic requires thorough probe.

Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa reacted dismissively to the allegations, terming them an attempt to create a controversy. “We did everything within the legal framework during the pandemic. They are trying to stir up old matters with bad intentions, but this would not benefit them,” he said. Yediyurappa also had said nothing wrong happened under his leadership and truth would have its way.

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