:The Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretary S Murthy has been suspended, pending a departmental inquiry, on charges of financial indiscipline during the 2016 and 2017 winter sessions of the state legislaturein Belagavi.
An official order announcing the action said that he would remain under suspension as per the 'Karnataka Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules.'
The alleged financial indiscipline is said to have led to excess expenditure during the sessions.
Terming the allegations as "baseless," Murthy said that he would move court, challenging his suspension.
"I have been accused of misleading the thenSpeaker, but it is not true," he told PTI.
"Has the then Speaker K B Koliwadtold them (committee) that I have misled him?" he asked.
The present Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar had ordered a probe into charges of financial misappropriation, followingwhich a five-member team, headed by the Karnataka State Audit and Accounts Department Additional Director submitted a report earlier this month.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the winter session at Belagavi on December 21, Kumar had said that "We are not happy about huge money that was spent last time, so we tried curtailing on it while not compromising on quality.
Compared to last year, we have been able to reduce the spending by about Rs 8 crore-10 crore this time.... last year according to information that I have, it had gone up to Rs 20 crore-22 crore," he had said.
Prior to the winter session,Murthy was stripped of his administrative and financial powers and a special officer appointed in his place, leaving him with only the session duty.
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