New Delhi: The Karnataka government has notified the formation of an inquiry commission to investigate allegations of '40% commission’ for projects during the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power, Deccan Herald has reported.

The Congress party had run a successful campaign to win the state assembly election earlier based on the allegations made in a letter by the Karnataka Contractors Association to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

In the letter, the association had claimed that the contractors had to agree to pay a 25-30% cut before the start of civil works and 5-6% for post-work bills. They had also complained that the guidelines favoured contractors from outside the state.

The Congress government had earlier issued a notification setting up a one-man committee headed by retired High Court Justice H.N. Nagamohan Das to investigate the allegations.

Following the latest notification of an inquiry commission, the earlier order has been annulled. Justice Das would still head the commission.

According to Deccan Herald, the government decided to form a commission instead of a committee in order to give more teeth to the investigation into the "40% commission" allegation that eventually led to the defeat of the BJP-led state government.

The newspaper reported that the commission has been constituted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act whereas the previous committee was formed by way of an executive order of the government.

The central objective of the commission is to examine the assertions made by the Karnataka State Contractors Association. Additionally, the commission will delve into any shortcomings in the tender procedures.

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