K'taka HC quashes criminal proceedings against B S Yediyurappa in 2015 land denotification case
Bengaluru, Jun 7: The Karnataka High Court has quashed a criminal proceeding related to an alleged illegal denotification and allotment of sites against former chief minister B S Yediyurappa.
The case was registered against the veteran BJP leader by Lokayukta police in 2015 based on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
It relates to the denotification of land by the government and allotment of sites by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
The counsel for Yediyurappa submitted before the bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna that the same issue was covered in a judgment by a coordinate bench of the High Court in connected cases in 2016 between the same parties.
The coordinate bench had considered the allegations as to whether the report of the CAG could become subject matter of registration of a crime under sub-section (1) of Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code.
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The counsel informed the court recently that the coordinate bench in 2016 had quashed 15 FIRs based on complaints by one Jayakumar Hiremath holding that "it is unrealistic to presume CAG report as a confidential document, till it meets finality in the Parliament or the Legislature." All those FIRs were based on CAG reports.
The 2016 judgment was quoted by Justice Nagaprasanna in his judgement on June 1 stating: "The CAG report wherefore since not available for judicial scrutiny, in my considered opinion, cannot be used as a foundation to build up a criminal case and cannot be made a part of investigation."
Allowing Yediyurappa's petition and quashing Crime No. 76 pending against him, the court said, "In the light of the issue standing covered on all its fours by the judgment rendered by the coordinate bench (supra), as also that being not disputed by the respondents, I deem it appropriate to obliterate the proceedings against the petitioner."
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
