Minority Affairs Minister Rahman Khan refutes corruption charges against him

Minority Affairs Minister Rahman Khan refutes corruption charges against him

New Delhi: Newly-appointed Minority Affairs Minister Rahman Malik on Monday refuted the corruption allegation against him and said there are no charges against him "personally". The 73-year-old Karnataka leader was embroiled in a scam in which misuse and encroachment of Wakf properties in the state had caused a loss worth Rs 2 lakh crore to the exchequer.

The Karnataka State Minorities Commission, which conducted its study in other districts, also including Gulbarga, Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagaram and Koppal, had alleged misuse of properties, encroachments, illegal disposal, mismanagement and fraudulent acts committed by erstwhile heads of the Wakf Board, elected representatives, politicians and others. Khan was also a member of Joint Parliamentary Committee on functioning of Wakf Boards and the one on Securities Scam.

There were allegations that Khan along with other members of the Board of Directors of the Amanath Co-Operative Bank Ltd of Bangalore siphoned off Rs 102 crore from the bank. But he was given a clean chit and a team led by Rahman Khan is once again running the bank. The Minority Affairs Minister, however, has claimed that he had no role to play in the controversy. "I represent Parliament in the Wakf board so my name is there in the FIR. The Lokayukta has submitted its report and it is not against me," said Khan.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, the minister said the minority communities in India are not gaining enough benefits of the reservation policy. Talking about the recent communal violence in Faisabad, Uttar Pradesh, Khan said, "It is the responsibility of the state and the Centre to avoid such clashes". The new Minority Affairs Minister said that the government will try to push for an early passage of the Communal violence Bill in Parliament.