Kumaraswamy brushes aside charges against him and his family

Bangalore, Aug 4 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today alleged that the Opposition Congress was engaged in levelling baseless allegations against him and his family members to tarnish his image.

Talking to newspersons here, he said he would consider filing a civil defamation case against Congress leader D K Shivakumar for alleging that six members of his family had bought a multi-storeyed complex worth Rs 85 crore on the outskirts of the city soon after his assuming charge.

Ridiculing the charge that he had collected Rs 150 crore from mine owners to allow them to carry on with illegal mining in Bellary district and invested the money in the property, he said his wife and relatives had entered into a sale agreement with the sellers by paying an advance and the total value of the property was fixed at Rs 36.06 crore in 2004, much before he became the Chief Minister.

Besides, the family had raised a loan of Rs 33 crore from Karnataka Bank for a period of 12 years and the balance amount had been met by relatives.

Releasing documents related to the property, Mr Kumaraswamy said it was registered on March 23 last according to the guideline value.

Though the Sub Registrar had assessed the value at Rs 23,97,69,066, his relatives had declared in the sale deed that they had purchased the property for Rs 36,06,43,500 and accordingly paid stamp duty and registration charges. Thus there was no question of any under valuation as alleged. The details pertaining to the property had been furnished to the income tax department before March 31. He had also disclosed details of his wife's assets and liabilities for the year ending March 31, 2006, to the Lok Ayukta, he revealed.

He said he wanted to put at rest all confusions prevailing in the minds of the public. It also reflected that the Congress had failed in its duty to function as a responsible Opposition party.

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