The Hindu: Udupi: Sunday, March 25, 2018.
Abraham T.J.,
president of the Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum, said on Saturday
that he welcomed the decision of Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth
Empowerment and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj to file a ₹10 crore defamation suit
against him.
Mr. Abraham
recently alleged that Mr. Madhwaraj had mortgaged three acres and eight cents
of land in Uppoor village, allegedly valued at ₹1.1 crore, and obtained a loan
of ₹193 crore from the Malpe branch of SyndicateBank in Udupi.
Mr.
Madhwaraj, on March 21, issued a legal notice to Mr. Abraham to publicly
withdraw his allegation within three days or face a ₹10-crore defamation suit.
Speaking to
presspersons here, Mr. Abraham said he was responding within the three days’
time given by Mr. Madhwaraj. He said if SyndicateBank had given a loan
amounting to ₹193 crore to Mr. Madhwaraj for a collateral of ₹1.1 crore, it was
nothing but a fraud. “I request Mr. Madhwaraj to file the defamation suit in 30
days. If he does not, then I will file a case against him,” he said.
Mr. Abraham
said he has already filed an application with the regional office of
SyndicateBank under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking details of the
properties mortgaged by Mr. Madhwaraj to get the loan. The bank has to provide the
details within 30 days, he said.
Mr. Abraham
said that in his application, he has shown the revenue mutation records and the
value of the lands declared by Mr. Madhwaraj himself. “Why is Mr. Madhwaraj not
showing any document (to the press) to buttress his argument that he has not
fraudulently got the loan?” he asked.
Mr. Abraham
released a list of movable and immovable properties declared by Mr. Madhwaraj
before the Lokayukta in 2015-16. According to the list, the activist said, the
properties are worth ₹40.27 crore.