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Court rejects plea for probe into graft charges against Karnataka CM
Bengaluru A city court on Thursday dismissed a complaint for investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering against Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, his family and others, citing absence of valid sanction
Bengaluru
A city court on Thursday dismissed a complaint for investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering against Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, his family and others, citing absence of valid sanction.
“Private complaint filed by the complainant under Sec. 200 of Cr P.C. (Code of Criminal Procedure), and interim application filed by the complainant under Sec. 156(3) of Cr.P.C., are not maintainable in the absence of valid sanction and accordingly dismissed,” the city civil and sessions court judge said in the order.
The case was filed by Abraham TJ, an activist and the president of the Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum at Bengaluru, against Yediyurappa, his family members and senior government officials, alleging bribe payments made to the tune of ₹12.5 crore to award a private company the contract for a housing project to be taken up by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra and grandson Shashidar Maradi, cabinet minister ST Somashekar and at least two high-ranking BDA officials among others were listed as respondents in the case.
Abraham, in his petition, stated that he had approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in November last year, but to no avail as the government probe agency closed the complaint two months later without any formal inquiry into the allegations.
However, the court observed that the private complaint is not maintainable in the absence of valid sanction and, accordingly, dismissed it.
Saying that he will approach the Karnataka high court in this case, Abraham told HT that he suspected the “court’s judgment was influenced by the CM.”
The complainant has also alleged that the bribe money was routed through at least seven “shell companies” owned by Yediyurappa’s family in Kolkata. The petition stated that all these companies are located on the same street and have their accounts in the same branch of the Corporation Bank in south Dum Dum area of Kolkata.
The petitioner has also claimed that the discovery might only be the “tip of the iceberg” and that the chief minister and his family have amassed huge amounts of ill-gotten wealth or “proceeds of crime”.
The reprieve in the case has come at a time when Yediyurappa and his family have been at the receiving end of sharp criticism and allegations of large-scale corruption, some of which from his own party legislators, including Basanagouda Patil (Yatnal) and AH Vishwanath among others.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command has been trying to sort out differences among the party leaders in the state, with insiders saying an attempt was being made to replace Yediyurappa before the 2023 assembly elections in Karnataka. While the chief minister had recently said he would accept any decision of the high command, the 78-year-old Lingayat leader has managed to handle the discontent, albeit for the time being.
