The Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission, set up to investigate complaints of 40 per cent kickbacks allegedly paid by contractors during the BJP government in Karnataka, submitted a 20,000-page report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday. It is among the two reports submitted by the retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, the other being related to irregularities in the modernisation of the right bank canal of the Narayanapura dam in Yadgir district. According to a media release issued by the chief minister’s office, the commission has submitted a detailed report after examining the allegations levelled by the Karnataka State Contractors Association. The mammoth report also reviewed complaints received from the general public during the course of the investigation. The commission looked into work carried out under five departments—public works, irrigation, urban development, rural development and panchayat raj, and minor irrigation—between July 2019 and March 2023. It employed random selection to identify projects from different departments carried out in various districts for the investigation, according to the release. Though the commission was given three months to submit its report when it was set up in August 2023, it was granted an extension to compile a comprehensive report. The “40 per cent” commission allegations, along with irregularities in Covid-time medical procurements, were among the key planks on which the Congress fought the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka. In November last year, the Justice D’Cunha Commission submitted its interim report on the Covid irregularities, recommending action against former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, then health minister B Sriramulu and others.
