Roshan Baig case: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike delays nod to prosecute officials

BENGALURU: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has drawn flak for failing to grant permission to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to prosecute corrupt officials involved in a case in which Enforcement Directorate (ED) had implicated former minister Roshan Baig for money laundering.

Miffed by BBMP's indifference to ACB's request to sanction prosecution of officials, the urban development department (UDD) has dashed off a confidential and strongly worded missive to the Palike chief commissioner and directed him to grant nod immediately.
According to the letter, a copy of which is with STOI, ACB had sought details and background of the officials who allegedly colluded with private individuals in registering the sale deed in favour of Roshan Baig-owned M/s Danish Publication Private Ltd way back on February 22, 2007. While ACB submitted its request to BBMP through UDD in February 2022, the civic body has not replied till date, irking the anti-corruption watchdog as well as UDD officials.
Probing the charges listed out by ED in December 2021 in a case against Baig under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, ACB had sought permission from UDD to prosecute or interrogate officials who helped the former minister and firms owned by him by registering land and issuing required licences in clear violation of government rules.
"As per the interrogation carried out by the ACB superintendent, the charges against BBMP officials are found to be true at the outset and (their actions have) caused severe losses to the exchequer. And to investigate the matter further and interrogate officials in this backdrop, it is imperative to seek your prior permission to prosecute those officials," the ACB letter to UDD read.
Following ACB's request, UDD in its letter dated February 21, 2022 had sought details of the BBMP officials who helped register land in favour of Roshan Baig-owned firms, their past addresses at the time of the incident and present addresses, if any of the officials have retired.
With ACB being scrapped, the Lokayukta or Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) is likely pursue the investigation once the sanction to prosecute comes, UDD sources said.