Bangalore:
After three ministers were caught watching porn on a cellphone in the Karnataka Assembly, a committee was set up of seven MLAs to investigate the incident. The ministers - Lakshman S Savadi, CC Patil and J Krishna Palemar had to resign - were forced to resign by their party, the BJP. The seven MLAs who are meant to interrogate them seem to lack real interest in their assignment.
The committee has seven MLAs - four from the BJP. The other three members, all from Opposition parties, are boycotting the investigation because they believe the ex-ministers should also be made to quit as MLAs. So far, the trio has been asked not to attend the Assembly till the inquiry against them is completed. The report is expected to be delivered to the Speaker on March 13.
The ex-ministers were caught by a private TV channel named Suvarna News. So far, Karnataka allowed TV channels to cover assembly proceedings, a rule it has changed after the scandal erupted. The editor of Suvarna was questioned by the inquiry committee yesterday. "Only the BJP MLAS (on the committee) asked me questions," Hameed Pallya of Suvarna told NDTV.
That means that the inquiry against the BJP trio is being handled exclusively by other BJP MLAs.