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Synopsis

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Justice NV Ramana, on Friday stayed the order of the Karnataka High Court, refusing to quash the criminal proceedings pending against former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa under the Prevention of Corruption of Act.

The criminal proceedings pertain to Yediyurappa allegedly illegally denotifying acres of land, acquired for an IT project, in the Varthur-Whitefiled IT corridor when he was Deputy Chief Minister during 2006-07. 

The Lokayukta police had taken up investigation into the case registered on February 21, 2015 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, following an order passed by the Lokayukta Court based on a private complaint filed by Vasudeva Reddy, a resident of Bellandur in the city.

Justice John Michael Cunha of Karnataka High Court, in 2020, while dismissing the former CM’s plea, directed the Lokayukta court to monitor the investigation ordered in respect of the misconduct of public servants and MPs and MLAs involved in the commission of criminal offences. The judge, however, deprecated the laxity of the Lokayukta police in conducting the probe, holding them responsible for intentional and deliberate delay in probe.

The judgment further notes that the Lokayukta police succumbed to pressure from Yediyurappa, who was holding the position of Chief Minister. According to the judgment, “Yet, being an independent and impartial body entrusted with the duty to investigate into the misconduct of public servants objectively, they cannot give rise to an impression in the minds of the general public that it is playing into the hands of the political bigwigs.”

Before the High Court, the counsel for Yediyurappa had argued that the Court, on October 9, 2015, had quashed the very same FIR against former Industries minister and Congress leader R V Deshpande. Therefore, the investigation against Yediyurappa based on the same FIR is illegal and amounts to abuse of process of court, he argued. The court, however, refused to accept this argument.

In Supreme Court, Senior Advocate KV Vishwanathan appeared for the former Chief Minister. The bench, also consisting of Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli issued notice in the plea and stayed the order of the Karnataka High Court.

Case title: Yediyurappa Vs State of Karnataka