Bengaluru: Has Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav been asked to go on long leave by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, pending the inquiry and is unlikely to resume work for the coming weeks, until he is set to retire?
Or will the Chief Minister who has handed over the preliminary investigation report by the Revenue Secretary, E V. Ramana Reddy — vetted by the Bengaluru Urban DC — to the Attorney General for his final view on the matter, take a call on the CS' future only after he receives the AG's opinion?
Mr.Jadhav was conspicuous by his absence from the all-important 'all party meet' on resolving the Cauvery row on Saturday, with speculation running wild that, embarrassed by reports in the media over his alleged land grab, he had absented himself deliberately at the behest of the government.
Convened by the CM, the high profile event was attended by leaders of opposition including H.D. Kumaraswamy, Jagadish Shettar and K.S. Eshwarappa, among others.
However, Mr. Jadhav was present when the CM met BBMP officials, with sources indicating that he was absent from the Cauvery meeting as it was a floor leaders' meeting.
Either way, sources close to the CM told Deccan Chronicle that contrary to media reports, the chief minister had not yet taken a final call on the continuance of Mr. Jadhav in office.
"A section of the media reported that the CM's investigator, the Assistant Commisioner, had given a clean chit to Arvind Jadhav in the Anekal land grab case. It is preliminary. It is not conclusive," sources said, adding that "the assistant's commissioner's report will be examined by the revenue secretary Dr. E V Ramana Reddy after it is thoroughly vetted by the Bengaluru Urban DC."
However, in an indication that the CM was well aware that he could stand accused of a cover up as revenue department officials work under the chief secretary, Mr. Siddaramaiah asked advocate general Madhusudan Nayak to scrutinse the report submitted by the revenue department on the alleged land dealing of chief secretary Arvind Jadhav and his family members. "CM will take a final call on CS's fate only after AG submits his report," sources added.
Devanahalli township case: No probe yet
Even after several reports that prima facie goes to show that the Jadhavs conducted real estate business while posing as agriculturists, no probe has been ordered by the state government.
While investigations are on in the Anekal land grab case, the Heggaranahalli village integrated project remains out of the gambit of the investigations. "The CS in his first signed statement had stated that his mother sold agricultural land in Heggaranahalli to purchase agricultural land in Anekal. This has been proved wrong by media investigation which is backed by credible documents procured from the revenue department. The Jadhavs as real estate developers sold plots there and not as agriculturists. The chief minister has to direct the revenue secretary to involve that the Devanahalli land issue also be a reference point as the entire controversy stems from the fact that they sold the agricultural land there, for the investigations," sources stated.
