Twin legal set backs for Yediyurappa as HC allows probe into corruption cases
Bengaluru: In a twin blow for Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, the Karnataka High Court has restored a complaint alleging forgery over the withdrawal of approval for a parcel of land and refused to quash an FIR filed against him in an 'illegal' land de-notification case of 2015.
Justice John Michael Cunha on Wednesday partly allowed a petition by Alam Pasha and accordingly set aside the August 26, 2016 order of additional city civil and sessions judge related to three of the four accused, including Yediyurappa, dismissing the complaint filed by her.
The case under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act related to alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery of documents purported to have been issued by Pasha in 2012 when Yediyurappa was the chief minister in his first term.
Besides Yediyurappa (the then chief minister), former minister for industries Murugesh Nirani, former principal secretary V P Baligar and former managing director of Karnataka Udyog Mitra Shivaswamy K are the other accused.
They have been accused by the petitioner of committing forgery of documents purported to have been issued by her seeking to withdraw the approval granted for allotment of 26 acres of land at Devanahalli Industrial Area in Bengaluru Rural District.
The lower court had in 2013 dismissed the complaint on the ground that an earlier complaint filed by her had been rejected for want of sanction to prosecute the accused.
The petitioner filed a fresh complaint in 2014 after Yediyurappa demitted office, but it was also dismissed by the lower court on August 26, 2016, on the same ground, but giving liberty to approach the court after getting prior sanction from the competent authority.
The petitioner submitted that since the respondents were no longer in office, sanction for their prosecution was not necessary.
Concurring with it, Justice Cunha ruled that the quashing of the earlier complaint about want of sanction would not act as a bar to maintain the latest complaint filed in 2014 after the respondents demitted office.
The high court upheld the lower court order in respect of Baligar, the third respondent, as the government did not grant sanction to prosecute him.
The court ordered, "The impugned order is set aside.
The complaint in PCR No 32/2014 is directed to be restored to file, insofar as respondent No 1, 2, and 4 are concerned and the same shall be proceeded with in accordance with the law."
Earlier, Justice Cunha, in his order on Tuesday, directed the Lokayukta police to go ahead with its probe against Yediyurappa and others including a former minister in the alleged illegal land de-notification case.
The court also imposed Rs 25,000 cost on Yediyurappa.
The case relates to the de-notification of 1.11-acre land at Gangenahalli, which is part of the Matadahalli layout in RT Nagar in the city in which former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and others are also accused.
Based on a complaint by social activist Jayakumar Hiremath, the Lokayukta police had registered a case under section 420 of the IPC (cheating) against the accused in 2015.
Earlier on December 23, the court had rejected Yediyurappa's plea to quash criminal proceedings in another land denotification case.
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Road crash in UP leaves 10 dead
Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) (PTI): Ten people were killed when a van collided head-on with a truck on the Sisaiya-Lakhimpur national highway on Monday, police said.
The van was going to Sisaiya from Lakhimpur when the accident took place between Unchgaon and Bharehta villages.
Circle Officer of Dhaurahra, Shamsher Bahadur Singh, said all nine passengers travelling in the van and the driver were killed.
District Magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri Anjani Kumar Singh told reporters that the van collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction, leading to nine casualties on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries at the district hospital.
Circle Officer, Dhaurahra, Shamsher Bahadur Singh told PTI, "Efforts are on to establish the identity of other deceased persons."
The seven of the deceased have been identified as Jaideep Singh (25), Pawan (23), Sohan (21), Ram Goyal (42), Sahajram (35), Pappu (18), all residents of Bahraich district and Adnan Khan (15), a resident of Lakhimpur Kheri district, police said.
Condoling the loss of lives in the accident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a post on X, said, "The loss of life in the unfortunate road accident in Lakhimpur Kheri district is deeply distressing and heart-wrenching. My condolences are with the bereaved families."
"I have directed the local administration to provide prompt and adequate assistance to the injured and the victims. I pray to Lord Shri Ram to grant the departed souls a place at His divine feet and to bestow a speedy recovery upon the injured," Adityanath said on X.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak too condoled the loss of lives in the accident.
"The loss of lives resulting from the road accident in Lakhimpur Kheri district is deeply tragic and heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences go out to the bereaved families," Maurya said.
