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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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
