Probe clears 2 of 3 legislators

The committee headed by Srishailappa Bidarur submitted its report on the scandal involving former ministers C C Patil,Lakshman Savadi and Krishna Palemar to the Speaker on Monday.

Patil and Savadi were caught on camera viewing pornography on a mobile phone provided by their Cabinet colleague Krishna Palemar. All three were forced to quit after they admitted to their actions.

Opposition Congress and JDS members were also to be represented on the committee,but they boycotted on the grounds that the MLAs had already admitted their guilt.

The committee cleared C C Patil and Krishna Palemar and recommended censure of Savadi,sources said.

The report said C C Patil was only peeping into what Savadi was watching while Palemar was at no point seen viewing pornography though the phone on which Savadi was viewing the clips belonged to him. The report is expected to be tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday.