The report of the Karnataka Minorities Commission on the alleged Rs 2 lakh crore Wakf property scam on Tuesday generated considerable heat in the Legislative Assembly, where an agitated opposition demanded a thorough enquiry and punishment to those found guilty.
Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the government is studying the report and would take a decision on it after opposition Congress and JD(S) members demanded its tabling and discussion in the House. The matter was raised during Zero Hour by C T Ravi (BJP) and H D Revanna (JDS), who termed it as a serious issue and demanded “action without hesitation” if there is truth in it. Zameer Ahmed Khan (JDS) said though the report is yet to be tabled, a section of the media has already reported that many politicians, including himself, have been implicated in it. Claiming that the magnitude of the alleged scam is the size of two Karnataka budgets, he suggested a probe into it by former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde, saying the former Supreme Court Judge does not “yield politically”.
“The guilty should be hanged,” he said, while Qamarul Islam and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and N A Harris (all Congress) demanded a CBI investigation. Tanveer Sait (Congress) said the guilty should be punished. Harris and U T Khader (Cong) said if the report is found “wrong”, the commission’s chairman Anwar Manippady should be punished. Sayeed Yasin (Cong) termed the report “abnormal”, contending that as per law Wakf property cannot be sold.
Siddaramaiah said the report should be tabled as one should know how the enquiry was conducted, evidence collected and conclusions arrived at as several legislators have been indicted, leading to their “character assassination”. “Let it be referred to CBI,” he said.
Wakf properties worth about Rs 2 lakh crore have been encroached upon or sold illegally, according to the report submitted to the Chief Minister yesterday, with Manippady terming it “bigger than 2-G scam” in magnitude. It reportedly said Wakf property had been misused since 1954, thanks to the “nexus” between Wakf officials and real estate mafia.
Meanwhile, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that it was a state level issue and they alone would have to take a decision on it. However, if the state government wanted, it could refer the matter to the Union Government, he said.
Khurshid added, “This (wakf scam) is actually a state level issue, state level entitlement, so they will have to look at it,” he told reporters outside Parliament. “State government will have to decide what they want to do, if they refer something to us, it is another matter,” he said. Khurshid said that “nothing had come” to him till now regarding the Karnataka government’s findings. Noting that a council for Waqf Boards existed at the central level, he said the Minority Affairs also has overall monitoring capacity and responsibility.