With power comes jail: Sasikala.

Sasikala’s prison perks: Notice to DIG whose report spoke of jail graft

Report claims Sasi bribed Rs 2 crore to prison officials, including DG

Agency Report | Bengaluru | 14 July, 2017 | 11:40 PM

A senior police officer and a woman whose report on the Karnataka Central Jail which houses AIADMK chief Sasikala claiming that she had bribed right to the top to allow her special facilities inside the jail, is now facing the heat of the government instead of a probe into the corruption charges. As a reward for bribing the prison authorities from Rao to jail warden, Sasikala gets special menu daily, cooked by special chefs in a special kitchen near the women's cell, DIG D. Roopa is said to have mentioned in her report on the goings on in the jail. The 2000 batch IPS officer is the first woman in the southern state to have been recently (June 23) appointed DIG of prisons.

The Karnataka government on Friday issued a notice to Deputy Inspector General of Prisons D. Roopa Moudgil for allegedly sharing with the media her report, accusing jailed AIADMK chief V.K. Sasikala of bribing prison officials for undue favours, said an official.

“The state Home Department has issued a notice to Moudgil, seeking an explanation on how her report on charges of corruption and irregularities in the central jail had reached the local news channels and media houses later on Wednesday night,” an official said on the condition of anonymity.

Moudgil, however, denied sharing the report with the media or anyone.

“I have submitted the report to Director General of Police R.K Dutta and have not shared or shown it to anyone. You have to find out how and from where the report reached the media,” Moudgil told reporters when asked about her response to the notice.

In the four-page report in Kannada, Moudgil alleged that convict Sasikala had paid Rs 2 crore bribe to prison officials, including Director General of Prisons H.N. Satyanarayana Rao and jail warden for special privileges such as a special menu, special chefs and a special kitchen adjacent to her cell in the prison’s women’s ward.

“As I said before, I stand by my report. Let there be an inquiry into the charges and even on how it (report) reached the media. I have not discussed it with anyone. I will respond to the notice when I receive it,” reiterated Moudgil.

Sasikala, 59, is in the Parpanna Agrahara Central Jail since February 15 to serve a four-year sentence after she was found guilty and convicted by a trial court here in September 2014 in the two decades old illegal wealth case of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. Though the Karnataka High Court had acquitted her, the Supreme Court on February 14, 2017, upheld the conviction and sentencing.

The Home Department has also set up a one-man inquiry committee after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered a probe into the report.

“The committee will be headed by retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar and file an interim report on the charges of bribery and other irregularities in the central jail in a week and the final report in a month,” added the official.

Rao, however, denied the charges and welcomed the inquiry into Moudgil’s report.

Meanwhile, taking exception to officials rushing to the media on administrative or governance matters, Siddaramaiah said such an action was against service rules.

“If there is evidence or documents related to violation of rules or corruption, the concerned official is free to bring it to the notice of his or her superior. Approaching the media with them is prohibited. That is why we have issued a notice to Roopa (Moudgil) for violating the rules,” Siddaramaiah told reporters at Mysuru.

On the inquiry into the allegations Moudgil levelled against the prison’s officials, the Chief Minister said if the charges were found to be true, action would be taken against the guilty. (IANS)