Embarrassed by the one-man commission’s failure to find evidence supporting the 40 percent commission allegations against former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the Karnataka government on Friday announced a fresh probe and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to re-examine the charges.

The Congress had widely publicised the “40 percent sarkara” allegations against the former BJP government, as alleged by the Karnataka State Contractors Association, and ran a politically successful campaign that helped the Congress wrest power from the BJP in the previous elections.

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However, after the one-man commission headed by Justice Nagamohan Das found no conclusive evidence of the alleged 40 percent commission scam under the previous BJP government, the Karnataka cabinet on Friday decided to form an SIT to go into the allegations afresh. The judicial commission, however, noted that there was widespread corruption during the previous regime.

Law minister HK Patil told media persons on Friday that the SIT would be directed to complete its investigations within two months and submit its report. The SIT will also include subject matter experts to help the probe.

“Today, we received the report about an hour before the cabinet meeting. We went through some of the details and took the decision to form an SIT,” the minister said.

The probe panel has pointed out irregularities in planning, funds release, and in the issuance of LOCs (Letters of Credit). It also raised serious concerns over the role of intermediaries in the tender allocation process. “Considering the seriousness of the findings, the cabinet has decided to set up an SIT,” Patil said.

Though Justice Nagamohan Das told the media that the probe had not found evidence of the 40 percent figure, the report he submitted detailed some serious irregularities in several projects.

When this was pointed out to the Law Minister, Patil shot back that he was not concerned about what statement was made. “There are very specific cases in the report,” he said.

Incidentally, the contractors’ association has levelled even more serious charges against the Siddaramaiah government. Association president D Manjunath said, “Compared to the previous government, the present one is actually demanding a higher percentage. We have already conveyed this to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, and all ministers. Although they acknowledge it, the demand remains the same.”