After the slapping case, now it's the taint of corruption that haunts the housing minister A corrupt official who owns 88 cars and property worth at least Rs 100 crore has just been rewarded with a lucrative new posting in the housing minister's office. Housing and religious affairs minister Somanna has sought the appointment of C N Shiva- prakash, deputy commissioner in the commercial tax department, as his personal secretary (PS). 
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Bad publicity: Somanna seems to make news for all the wrong reasons </td></tr></tbody></table>Shivaprakash has already started handling the minister's work even before the government has formally given him the position. MiD DAY caught him on camera carrying files inside the minister's chamber yesterday. "Somanna's thoughts and principles match mine," said Shivaprakash. "That's why I did not think twice before joining his office to serve him." The chosen one He isn't worried that he may be breaking the rules by serving in Somanna's office even before he is relieved from his earlier posting. "That's just a formality and Somanna will take care of it," he said. Shivaprakash owns at least 88 vehicles, and reportedly hires them out as cabs in Bangalore and Mysore. Somanna wrote to the chief secretary on July 5, but Shivaprakash has been working for him since June 18, the day he was sworn in as minister. Although Somanna wanted Shivaprakash as his personal secretary, an office lobby is at work to give him the slightly lower post of officer on special duty. When the Lokayukta raided Shivaprakash's house some months ago, sleuths found property, jewellery and vehicles worth more than Rs 100 crore. Almost all of Shivaprakash's ill-gotten wealth is allegedly in the name of his unmarried sister, Jayalakshmi. Apart from several sites in Bangalore, he owns hundreds of acres around Mysore and K R Nagar. The corruption watchdog found 2.3 kg of gold and 26.7 kg of silver in his house. "This is nothing," said an officer in the Lokayukta. "He has much more that we could not locate." There is no way Jayalakshmi could have earned so much, he explained.u00a0 The Lokayukta has recommended Shivaprakash's suspension. "It is frustrating that the corrupt are being rewarded with plum posts in the government," said the Lokayukta officer.u00a0 'Not finalised!' Somanna had an unconvincing defence. "Nothing has been finalised yet," he told MiD DAY. "I don't have an OSD at present." However, he could not explain the presence of Shivaprakash who was carrying files in and out his office. Chief secretary Sudhakar Rao declined to comment.

After the slapping case, now it's the taint of corruption that haunts the housing minister

Controversy stalks Somannna

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