‘Never wrestle with pigs’: Karnataka ADGP reacts to Union minister Kumaraswamy’s graft charges

Referring to a George Bernard Shaw quote “never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it,” he said that officials cannot avoid confronting criminals and the accused during the discharge of our duty. “Sometimes the criminals and accused whom we confront throw dirt at us. This must not deter us from discharging our duty,” the letter said.

Kumaraswamy is facing inquiry regarding the denotification of 1.1 acres of land in Gangenahalli in Bengaluru. The former Karnataka chief minister had claimed that Sekhar, under the protection of the Congress, is engaged in corruption and fabrication of evidence.

Responding to the letter, Kumaraswamy told reporters on Sunday that though he was an accused in a case, Chandra Sekhar “was a criminal in the guise of an official. There are allegations that he has committed a series of crimes,” he said.

According to the officer, the SIT had sought prosecution sanction for the accused from the competent authority and he was on bail. Kumaraswamy, he said in the letter, had done this “to deter us from discharging our duties. It appears that his objective is to create fear in the minds of officers of SIT by attacking me. But an accused, however high and mighty he may be, is an accused.”

The IPS officer is probing cases of irregularities in granting mining leases during the tenure of Kumaraswamy as CM between 2006 and 2007. In August this year, the SIT under him had sought additional documents to the Governor seeking sanction for prosecution against the Union Minister

The letter came on the day after Kumaraswamy released copies of a complaint filed by a junior officer against Chandra Sekhar, accusing him of demanding Rs 20 crore. The Minister had added that he had sought permission from his seniors to probe officials from the Governor’s secretariat. The Union Minister had also alleged that the IPS officer was involved in “illegal construction and encroachment”.