Centre wants to put CM Siddaramaiah behind bars, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao alleges
Mangaluru (Karnataka), Aug 2: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday alleged that the Centre wants to put Chief Minister Siddaramaiah behind bars and is therefore "digging out small things" against the opposition but protecting its own people who indulge in "big crimes".
“They (BJP leaders) are misusing the governor, Income Tax (dept), Directorate of Enforcement only to topple the government. You know what they tried to do in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi, West Bengal and Kerala,” Rao told reporters in Dakshina Kannada district.
He was reacting to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's show cause notice issued to Siddaramaiah on the MUDA site allotment 'scam' in which the CM's wife Parvathi is allegedly a beneficiary.
Rao said that on a visit to any state ruled by a non-BJP government, one can see how the Centre misuses government machinery across India to topple and destabilise state governments and create confusion within the government there, by making false accusations, putting pressure on opposition leaders and getting them into trouble.
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"There is an undeclared emergency in the country," Rao said, pointing out that the BJP-led Centre had jailed Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and former union minister P Chidambaram.
“These Central agencies do not touch the BJP leaders. Instead they (BJP leaders) are protected. If others make a small mistake, the BJP goes after them. In Siddaramaiah’s case, they want him to be jailed,” he charged.
He highlighted that the governor served the show cause notice to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah within hours of getting a complaint from advocate-activist T J Abraham.
Rao said the governor should have verified whether the chief minister is involved in the MUDA allotments or not before issuing the notice.
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Delhi HC Judge Justice Sharma to pass order on recusal plea by Kejriwal at 4.30 pm
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court Judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Monday said that she would pronounce her verdict at 4.30 pm on pleas by Arvind Kejriwal and others seeking her recusal in the liquor policy case, as she took on record additional pleadings by the AAP chief on his plea.
Justice Sharma said although the pronouncement was scheduled for 2:30 pm, she was "going out of her way" in accepting Kejriwal's rejoinder as a written submission in the matter.
The former chief minister virtually appeared before the judge through video conferencing and urged her to take on record his rejoinder to the written submissions filed by the CBI.
Even as Kejriwal asserted that the registry's refusal to take his rejoinder on record was "miscarriage of justice", Justice Sharma remarked that since he was not being represented by a lawyer, the court went "out of its way" for him when it permitted him to file his additional affidavit last week even after the order on the recusal issue was reserved.
The judge said that as per the registry's rule, a party in-person must take permission from the court to file anything and since the present case was not "extraordinary", the same practice was being followed.
She added that in law, there is no concept of filing a "rejoinder" to the opposite party's written submissions, and she would permit Kejriwal to tender his pleadings as written submissions instead, so that he does not feel that he was not heard.
"You say you have respect for me. I have respect for every litigant. The rule of court will not be changed for anyone so I will treat it as written submissions. I am taking it on record. I am giving the indulgence to Mr Kejriwal," the court stated.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appeared for the CBI and opposed Kejriwal's request to file rejoinder. Mehta said nowhere in the country were pleadings taken on record after order was reserved a court.
He also said there is no concept of filing rejoinder to a written submission, and the court should do what it would do for any ordinary litigant.
Kejriwal had raised several objections against the judge hearing the CBI's plea against his discharge in the liquor policy case, including that she had earlier denied him relief on his petition challenging his arrest and refused to grant relief on the bail pleas of other accused, including Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha.
He also claimed that Justice Sharma had made "strong and conclusive" findings.
The former Delhi chief minister further alleged a "direct conflict of interest", claiming that the judge's children are empanelled central government lawyers who receive work through the solicitor general, who is appearing in the matter for the CBI.
Besides Kejriwal, the applications for recusal of the judge were also filed by AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak.
Other respondents, including Vijay Nair and Arun Ramchandra Pillai, have also sought her recusal.
Solicitor General urged Justice Sharma to initiate contempt action against Kejriwal and others for seeking her recusal.
Terming concerns by Kejriwal and others as "apprehensions of an immature mind," Mehta told the court it was a matter of "institutional respect" and Justice Sharma should not succumb to pressure as her recusal on "unfounded allegations" would set a bad precedent.
On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi liquor policy case, saying that the CBI's case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.
