Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Mar 24: Social activist T J Abraham, who had previously made allegations of fraud against Udupi district in-charge minister Pramod Madhwaraj and got a notice for the same, on Saturday March 24 said that he is unperturbed by the notice sent by the minister, and that he would give Madhwaraj 30 days' time to file a defamation case against him.
Addressing a press meet here, Abraham said, "District in-charge minister Pramod Madhwaraj has given me three days to tender an apology or face a Rs 10 crore defamation case. There are two provisions quoted for committing offence under sections 500 and 501 of IPC in the legal notice. I welcome his legal notice and I am happy about it. Let him file the case immediately.
"Syndicate Bank granted a loan of Rs 193 crore to Madhwaraj against a collateral property worth Rs 1.18 crore. If the bank has given loan by violating rules and regulations, it is a fraud. My first attack will be on Syndicate Bank. The bank has to produce the relevant documents. The documents obtained through RTI state that the bank issued Rs 34 crore for 0.18 guntas (1 gunta = 1,089 sq ft) of land. That means, the market price was Rs 19,000 per sq mt, which is not feasible even in an urban area like Bengaluru.
"Records show that he had mortgaged his property in 2010-11. He updated his movable and immovable properties as declaring before the Lokayukta in the year of 2015-16. As per the documents submitted to the Lokayukta in 2015-16, Madhwaraj's total family wealth is Rs 40,27,41,987. So how did he get Rs 193 crore?" he questioned.
"I do not feel disturbed by legal notices. I have all the facts and figues. Madhwaraj may have responded in the media, but has not shown any documents of his assets to prove his innocence."
"Madhwaraj has given me three days, but I will give him 30 days to file a defamation case against me. Let him file the complaint first. If he does not do so, it will be my turn to take him to court. I will file a defamation suit against Madhwaraj. He is bound by law and I will definitely take him to court. Let him pay the legal fee of Rs 7.07 lac and file the case right now. I will see him court," he challenged.
He also said that contrary to Madhwaraj's claims, there was no political motive behind his allegations. "I have all the financial information regarding all the MLAs in 224 constitiencies of the state. If someone else is involving in fraud, I will take similar action against them too," he said.