A local court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in the Janthakal Enterprises mining case.
Mr. Kumaraswamy was supposed to appear before a Lokayukta Special Investigation Team (SIT) for questioning on Wednesday, but he gave it a miss. Soon after being granted anticipatory bail, Mr. Kumaraswamy announced he would appear before the SIT on Thursday.
According to K.S.R Charan Reddy, Inspector General of Police who heads the SIT, the probe team had summoned Mr. Kumaraswamy following the arrest and interrogation of senior IAS officer Ganga Ram Baderiya. “We have learnt that the court has given him anticipatory bail. We are waiting for the written orders and will decide on the future course of action after we get the copy,” he said.
Mr. Baderiya, Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, was arrested on Monday in connection with the 2007 case for allegedly allowing the firm to lift 1 million tonnes of mined ore in Chitradurga based on forged documents. Mr. Baderiya had kept a file noting that the then Chief Minister — Mr. Kumaraswamy — had put immense pressure on him to clear the file within two hours.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kumaraswamy, who was in Raichur from Tuesday, denied the allegation. Minutes after securing an anticipatory bail, he said he would completely cooperate with SIT officials and explain his version of the events on Thursday.
He alleged that the State government, by opposing his bail petition, was showing “undue interest” in arresting him even for a single day just to send the “wrong message” to the people.
