BJP sets up helpline number to help party workers in fight against 'vindictive' Karnataka govt
Bengaluru, Jun 10: The Karnataka unit of the BJP on Saturday launched a helpline number to provide legal assistance to the party activists against whom "false cases" are registered by the Congress government in the state.
The service has been started to assist the party workers to fight the police cases against them legally, Bengaluru South MP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya said after launching the helpine.
The helpline number -- 18003091907 -- was launched against the "vindictive politics of the Congress government", Surya said.
"Ever since the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has taken over governance in Karnataka, attempts are being made to stifle the voice of the opposition, especially the karyakartas (workers) of the Bharatiya Janata Party," the BJP MP told reporters.
In the last two-three weeks, senior Karnataka ministers have been making statements warning BJP workers of facing strict legal and police action in case they make statements opposing the policies of the government, Surya alleged.
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"We have already witnessed two instances where our karyakartas have faced police brutality, police action for so much so as tweeting against the Chief Minister, having a caricature made against the Chief Minister and making it as their display picture on the WhatsApp," the MP alleged.
He also alleged that Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has also specifically stated that in the coastal areas of the state, various cultural organisations inspired by the RSS would be tackled with brute force and the government intends to constitute a special task force (STF) to deal with these organisations and its members.
"It appears that the Home Minister of Karnataka is directly taking orders from the PFI and is making these kinds of comments. We have seen in the past the brutal murder of BJP/RSS karyakartas by the radical terrorist elements. The Congress party government then did not register proper FIRs, did not conduct investigations properly, diluted the FIRs filed, adulterated charge sheets were filed so that the perpetrators of those crimes be let free," he claimed.
ಕಾನೂನಾತ್ಮಕವಾಗಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ದಾಳಿಯ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ನಮ್ಮ ಹೋರಾಟದಲ್ಲಿ, ಯಾವುದೇ ರಾಜಿ ಇಲ್ಲ.
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) June 10, 2023
ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತರ ಮೇಲೆ ಸುಳ್ಳು ಕೇಸು ದಾಖಲಿಸಿ ಜೈಲಿಗೆ ಹಾಕುವುದಾಗಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ನ ಸಚಿವರು ಬಹಿರಂಗವಾಗಿ ಬೆದರಿಕೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ನಾಚಿಕೆಗೇಡಿನ ಸಂಗತಿ.
ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತರ ರಕ್ಷಣೆಗೆ, @BJP4Karnataka Legal Cell ರಾಜ್ಯದ 100+ ವಕೀಲರ… pic.twitter.com/ulV82eefB9
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SC reserves verdict on ex-CM Yediyurappa's plea against revival of corruption case
New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a plea of senior BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa against an order reviving a corruption case against him.
The Karnataka High Court, on January 5, 2021, allowed a plea of complainant A Alam Pasha, who hails from Bengaluru, and revived his complaint.
Pasha alleged corruption and criminal conspiracy against Yediyurappa and former Industries minister Murugesh R Nirani and Shivaswamy KS, former managing director of Karnataka Udyog Mitra.
The high court ruled the absence of prior sanction for prosecution—leading to the quashing of an earlier complaint—did not bar the filing of a fresh complaint once the accused had demitted office.
It, however, did not allow criminal prosecution of V P Baligar, a retired IAS officer and former principal secretary of the state government, in the corruption case.
On April 4, a bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra concluded the hearings and framed several key legal questions for its adjudication including whether after a judicial magistrate has ordered probe under Section 156(3) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), would a prior sanction of the appropriate government authorities be still required under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
Section 156 (3) of the CrPC permits a judicial magistrate to order a police investigation into a complaint and it may include order for a preliminary inquiry or registration of an FIR.
Section 17A of the PC Act says, “No police officer shall conduct any enquiry or inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under this Act, where the alleged offence is relatable to any recommendation made or decision taken by such public servant in discharge of his official functions or duties, without the previous approval...”
The top court framed seven crucial legal questions, primarily focusing on the interplay between various provisions of the PC Act and the CrPC on the issue of prior sanction to prosecute a public servant and power of the judicial magistrate to entertain a private complaint and order probe and an FIR.
“What are the relevant considerations as contemplated by Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 which the appropriate authority or government is expected to look into before the grant of approval for initiation of any enquiry, inquiry, or investigation by the police?” read the first question the bench framed.
Whether the considerations which weigh with the appropriate authority or government while granting approval under Section 17A of the PC Act are fundamentally so different from the one that a magistrate is ordinarily expected to apply while passing an order under Section 156(3) of the CrPC, read the second issue.
“In other words, whether the considerations under Section 17A of the PC Act are of such a nature that they are necessarily beyond the ambit or scope of consideration by a Magistrate while directing an investigation under Section 156(3) of the CrPC,” the bench said.
The top court asked if it could be said that once a magistrate has applied his mind under Section 156(3) of the CrPC, the requirement of a prior approval under Section 17A of the PC Act is meaningless, redundant and no longer necessary.
“Could it be said that a police officer, despite a direction under Section 156(3) by a Magistrate, would remain inhibited from conducting any enquiry, inquiry, or investigation without prior approval as required by Section 17A,” it added.
Whether a magistrate could proceed with inquiry under Sections 200 (examination of private complainant) and 202 (postponement of a criminal case) of the CrPC without prior sanction, and whether such actions are limited only to the pre-cognizance stage, read another question.
The top court asked the counsel of the senior BJP leader to file the written submissions within two weeks, along with relevant case laws addressing not just the framed questions, but any additional issues that may arise.
Pasha had initially filed a complaint alleging Yediyurappa and others conspired to forge documents to revoke the high-level clearance committee’s approval for allotting 26 acre of industrial land to him at Devanahalli Industrial Area.
The complaint, which invoked provisions under the IPC and the PC Act, was initially investigated by the Lokayukta Police, but in 2013, the high court quashed the complaint for a lack of mandatory sanction under Section 19 of the PC Act.
Subsequently, after the accused officials vacated their offices, Pasha filed a fresh complaint in 2014, arguing that sanction was no longer required in light of Supreme Court judgment in the A R Antulay case.
The special judge dismissed the second complaint in 2016, again citing lack of sanction.
Challenging this dismissal, Pasha approached high court which passed a partly favourable ruling.
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