Shivakumar also asserted his government's commitment to get justice for the survivors of sexual abuse, and expressed confidence about the SIT's ongoing probe.
DK Shivakumar.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and other state ministers on Saturday, 18 May, rubbished allegations about their role in the circulation of pen drives containing explicit videos involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
BJP leader and advocate G Devaraje Gowda, who is in custody after being arrested in a sexual abuse case and is also facing charges of video leak, on Friday alleged that Shivakumar and four other ministers are behind the circulation of the pen drives and he was being implicated in false cases as he did not agree to be part of their plan.
He even alleged that he was offered ₹100 crore by Shivakumar to “bring a bad name” to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to tarnish the image of JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy in Prajwal Revanna’s obscene video case.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said, “Better, let him (Gowda) file a case before Lokayukta or any other agency. I think he has some problems mentally. I’m very sorry, the national and state media shouldn’t have picked up such baseless allegations. A person who is in jail, how can he make such allegations? All these are baseless. I don’t want to comment.”
Asked if he will be filing any defamation case against Gowda, he said, “I don’t want to make any comment or speak on a person who is mentally sick. I appeal to his party people to get him a good treatment.”
Shivakumar also asserted his government’s commitment to get justice for women victims of the sexual abuse case, and expressed confidence about the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) ongoing probe.
While being taken from court in Hassan, Gowda on Friday spoke to media and alleged that Shivakumar was behind pen drive case, and a team of four Ministers —N Chaluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge and another minister— was formed to handle this, with an intention to bring bad name to BJP, PM Modi and Kumaraswamy.
He said Shivakumar had asked him to say that Kumaraswamy was behind the distribution of pen drives, but as he did not agree to it, he was being fixed in false cases.
Minister Priyank Kharge said Gowda had alleged that three responsible ministers in the state government were part of a team and that there was a conspiracy. “We will discuss whatever legal course, we will take it.”
“Devaraje Gowda might be doing this to defame Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. If he had a ₹100 crore offer, he should have told Amit Shah (Union Home Minister) and get it investigated. He could have got CBI, ED, or IT raids done. Why didn’t he do it? Claims have been made that he (Gowda) was sent ₹5 crore as advance at a club, let them get CCTV footage and see who were all there,” Kharge said.
While speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he further said Gowda is a lawyer. When deposing before the judge, he should have told about the documents he had and presented them to the court.
Minister Chaluvarayaswamy said allegations about the role of Shivakumar and a team of ministers being formed to oversee the circulation of pen drives were “baseless”. He questioned Gowda’s morality to make such accusations.
“If Gowda proves that Chaluvarayaswamy, Priyank Kharge and Krishna Byre Gowda had held a meeting on this case and we as a team were given responsibility and we were involved in this case, I will apologise,” he said and alleged that Gowda was being used to mislead and deviate from the main case of sexual abuse.
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