Hopeful of positive judgement: Yeddyurappa on rebel lawmakers' plea in SC
New Delhi, Sep 22: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said on Sunday that he was hopeful of a "positive" judgement, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs' plea.
Yeddyurappa rushed to Delhi to meet BJP chief Amit Shah and strategise after the Election Commission announced bypolls in the seats represented by the rebel lawmakers who were disqualified by speaker K R Ramesh Kumar under the tenth schedule.
The chief minister is under pressure from the 15 disqualified MLAs who fear jeopardising their political career if the apex court does not give them relief before September 30, the deadline which the Election Commission has set for filing nomination for the bypolls.
The Supreme Court will be hearing their plea on Monday.
"We are hopeful of a positive Supreme Court verdict...Since the speaker has not followed principles of natural justice, the judgement would be in our favour. Let's see what happens tomorrow," Yeddyurappa told reporters after meeting Shah.
"We are expecting some verdict in our favour as the EC has announced dates for bypolls in the state," he said.
Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday also met some of the disqualified MLAs, including R Shankar and S T Somashekar, who are stationed here, sources said.
He informed them about the meeting between Shah and Yeddyurappa and assured them that the party will be by their side, the sources said.
The speaker's disqualification order states that the rebel MLAs cannot participate in the proceedings of the current Vidhan Sabha, because of which they are now pinning all hopes on the Supreme Court. Unless the court stays the order or gives relief to them, they are prohibited from even contesting the bypolls.
The 15 assembly segments will go to polls on October 21 and counting of votes will be held on October 24. Seven of these are in north Karnataka.
Bypolls to two assembly constituencies Maski in Raichur district and RR Nagar in Bengaluru have not been announced as cases related to the 2018 election are pending in the Karnataka High Court.
The bypolls are crucial for the stability of the BJP government as the party has 104 MLAs (excluding the speaker) in the 207-member assembly and it has to win at least ten seats to take its tally to 114, the simple majority mark in a full House of 224 members.
What could make the task not so easy is the fact that the Congress and the JDS too will be making all-out efforts to retain their ground, especially in the constituencies that were represented by them before their MLAs turned rebels.
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UP: Fake IAS officer marries woman, flees with Rs 15 lakh dowry
Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
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