The Karnataka legislature comprising the assembly and council was adjourned on Monday till 4 p.m. amid a ruckus as opposition lawmakers insisted on the resignation of a minister and a CBI probe into the suicide by a police officer recently.
As soon as the 25-day monsoon session resumed at Vidhana Soudha, the opposition BJP and Janata-Dal-Secular (JD-S) members raised slogans in the assembly against the state government, demanding the ouster of former home minister K.J. George and a CBI probe into the death of DSP M.K. Ganapathi, who allegedly committed suicide on July 7 at Madikeri in Kodagu district, about 260 km from Bengaluru.
Before speaker K.B. Koliwad adjourned the lower house, the ruling Congress party pushed through five key amendment bills by voice vote amid the din even as the opposition members resumed protests over the government's refusal to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and not asking George to resign.
"We will not allow the house to conduct business until George resigns and a CBI probe is ordered into Ganapathi's suicide, as the judicial inquiry will not be able to complete it within six months," BJP leader and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar told the speaker.
Rejecting the demand, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered a judicial inquiry on July 13 after the BJP and JD-S expressed reservations over the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) probe, as it functioned under the state government.
The state government on July 16 appointed Justice K.N. Keshavanarayana, retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, as the one-man commission to probe Ganapathi's death and directed him to submit his report in six months.
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The reports of five house committees were also tabled despite the pandemonium and uproarious scenes in the well of the house.
In the legislative council, opposition BJP and JD-S members staged demonstrations and raised slogans against George and Siddaramaiah for not acceding to their demand.
"The state government is protecting 'murderers' of a police officer, who blamed George and two IPS officers for harassing him and held them responsible should anything happen to him, in an interview to a local news channel hours before he hanged himself".
Ganapathi, 51, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a lodge room on July 7 hours after he accused George and two IPS officers of harassing him and holding them responsible should anything happen to him.
George was the home minister till October 31, 2015 before he was made Bengaluru Development Minister and the ruling party's state unit president G. Parameshwara replaced him.
The two IPS officers are Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) A.M. Prasad and Lokayukta (Ombudsman) Inspector General of Police Pronab Mohanty.
--IANS
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