In another setback for the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, the Lokayukta police on Monday filed a First Information Report (FIR) against him, his sons, and son-in-law in connection with the Lokayukta's report on illegal mining.
The FIR came after Lokayukta Shivaraj V. Patil forwarded the illegal mining report to the Lokayukta police and directed them to take “necessary legal action”.
The Lokayukta had indicted Mr. Yeddyurappa and his kin in the report, stating that Prerana Trust run by Mr. Yeddyurappa's family members had received Rs. 10 crore as donation from South West Mining Company, a subsidiary of Jindal Steel Works.
The Lokayukta report, which was submitted on July 27 by the former Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, had also accused Davalagiri Properties, a firm run by Mr. Yeddyurappa's family, of selling one acre of land at Rachanahalli in Bangalore for Rs. 20 crore, which is about twenty times the guidance value of the land, to South West Mining.
According to Lokayukta Police Superintendent Eshwarchandra Vidyasagar, who is the investigating officer, the FIR has been filed under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Mr. Yeddyurappa, his sons B.Y. Raghavendra and B.Y. Vijayendra, and son-in-law R.N. Sohan Kumar.
In his final report on illegal mining, Mr. Hegde had made out a case of “conflict of interest” in the deals and charged the former Chief Minister's family with sanctioning mining licences in exchange for these amounts.
The submission of the report paved the way for Mr. Yeddyurappa's resignation as Chief Minister.
Anticipatory bail
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court on Monday directed counsel for Mr. Yeddyurappa to comply with the objections raised by the registry questioning how anticipatory bail pleas were filed directly in the High Court without exhausting the opportunity available before the Special Lokayukta Court.
Mr. Yeddyurappa has sought anticipatory bail apprehending his arrest by the Lokayukta police as the Special Lokayukta Court had issued summons asking him to appear before it on August 27 in connection with a corruption case related to denotification of land at three different places in Bangalore.
He has also sought anticipatory bail in a corruption case related to awarding a contract in the Upper Bhadra irrigation project.
When the criminal petitions came up for hearing, senior counsel U.V. Lalit requested the court to take up the matter for early hearing as the Special Lokayukta Court had summoned Mr. Yeddyurappa before it on August 27.
However, Justice L. Narayana Swamy asked counsel to approach the registry to clarify the objection raised. The court adjourned the hearing till August 25 while asking the Lokayukta police to file its objections to the plea.
