BENGALURU
The Lokayukta police have issued notices to State Energy Minister KJ George and some officials seeking an explanation regarding allegations of multi-crore irregularities in the award of smart meter purchase contracts.
The officials have asked them to respond to this notice within a week. Minister George, who has received the notice, has clarified that he did not take a unilateral decision regarding this contract. The High Court had directed the Lokayukta police to collect documents and submit a report regarding the allegations of irregularities in the smart meter purchase contract.
In this context, the Lokayukta police, which took up the investigation, have issued notices to Minister George and some officials of the Energy Department, including BESCOM Manager Mahantesh Bilagi, seeking an explanation about the irregularities, sources told.
Mahantesh Bilagi, who was the BESCOM Manager when this contract process took place, was later transferred to another department. However, sources informed that the Lokayukta police have also sought an explanation from Mahantesh Bilagi since the project blueprint was prepared during his tenure.
What is the scam?: The government decided to install 39 lakh smart meters in the state. The government, which had earlier decided to install meters within the BESCOM area, later expanded the project to the state. The target was to install 9 lakh meters per year. However, the opposition parties BJP and JDS had alleged that there was a huge scam in this project. The Energy Department planned to purchase smart meters at a price higher than the market rate, and crores of rupees were involved in this procurement tender. There were allegations that there was illegality. An application was also filed in the court demanding an investigation into this scam. It is learnt that the court, which conducted the inquiry into this matter, has directed the Lokayukta police to examine the files and submit a report on the allegations of illegal tendering of this project.
