HC clears way for BSY to seek Karnataka CM’s job

Ray · 08-03-12, 12:24 PM

HC clears way for BSY to seek Karnataka CM’s job

BANGALORE: Armed with a court order quashing the case that ousted him, former Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa has demanded an immediate reinstatement.

The Karnataka HC on Wednesday quashed the references made against him in Chapter 22 of a report submitted by then Lokayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde on illegal mining. A division bench also quashed sanction given by governor H R Bhardwaj to prosecute him and the FIR filed by Lokayukta police against Yeddyurappa.

Making strong observations against the governor, the court said in its 56-page verdict: "The petitioner (Yeddyurappa) was condemned unheard, and there was flagrant violation of the principles of natural justice/fairness in administrative action and statutory provisions."

Yeddyurappa, who went into a huddle with his followers, told them that since he has "come clean", it is up to the BJP leadership to honour its promise to reinstate him as CM. During his recent visit to Bangalore, BJP president Nitin Gadkari had asked Yeddyurappa to come clean in the illegal mining case before hoping to become CM again.

There are five private complaints pending against Yeddyurappa before the special Lokayukta court. His name figures in three FIRs; police have given him a clean chit in two, and he is a co-accused in the third.

The verdict has come as a shot in the arm for the beleaguered Lingayat leader, who sulked after the high command flatly refused to rehabilitate him till he came clean in all cases. Within hours of the division bench delivering the verdict, Yeddyurappa faxed copies of it to Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and M Venkaiah Naidu.

On the Lokayukta report, the bench maintained: "Lokayukta being a quasi-judicial authority, his decisions should be reasoned. When important rights of parties of far-reaching consequence are adjudicated in a summary fashion, without giving a personal hearing, where proposals are required to be examined, it would be directly destructive of judicial fair play and natural justice."

Ruling out any more show of patience, sources close to Yeddyurappa said the leadership should reinstate him as chief minister in the next couple of days. The party leadership, while asking Yeddyurappa to step down, had said the BJP at the national level was unable to counter the UPA government and Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit on the issue of corruption. It had assured Yeddyurappa he would be reinstated if he came clean.

"The HC has given Yeddyurappa a clean chit and rapped governor Bhardwaj's sanction for his prosecution.

The party bosses should now understand that Yeddyurappa had no role to play in illegal mining and was fixed in the Lokayukta report," a source close to Yeddyurappa said.

HC clears way for BSY to seek Karnataka CM’s job - The Times of India

Is Yadurappa more sinned against sinning?

Is Bhardawaj a Congress stooge as indirectly stated by the HC?

Has not Santosh Hegde much to sulk about?

Is Yedurappa still not a hot potato for the BJP?

How will the winds blow for each of the actors of this issue?

parijataka · 08-03-12, 01:17 PM

Yeddyurappa ji is not as clean as snow for sure but he has been more sinned against than sinned himself. No CM in Karnataka has been totally non-corrupt including Congress, JD(S) and BJP unlike say Modi or Manohar Parrikar or BC Khanduri ji. Yeddyurappa is a minnow compared to say the late YSR in Andhra. OTOH Congress has not taken action against Shiela Dikshit (CWG) Delhi CM or Digambar Kamat (illegal mining) Goa CM. Yeddyurappa was hounded and made an example of to humble BJP in Karnataka by interested parties. Previous CM's of Congress and JD(S) are known have been involved in illegal mining in Bellary.

amitkriit · 08-03-12, 01:22 PM

This verdict can result in power-fight inside the state BJP. Results awaiting........

sesha_maruthi27 · 08-03-12, 03:10 PM

The congress is starting to loose its weapons as the B.J.P. leaders are proving their innocence in the corruption cases against them........

First MODI and now YEDDYURAPPA. Great going B.J.P.

parijataka · 08-03-12, 08:01 PM

Could lead to further confusion in BJP.

As ‘clean’ a ‘chit’ as it could be

At a time when the Congress is still reeling under the debacle in Uttar Pradesh the last thing it needed was news in favor of the BJP on corruption allegations against one of its top leaders. Not too long ago, when the heated Lokpal Bill debates took place in television studios, a constant rejoinder from vocal Congressmen was to remind the BJP on Yeddyurappa’s corruption in Karnataka.

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the complaint and the FIR filed against Yeddyurappa, primarily for lack of material. At one place in the Order – in paragraph 28 – the Court actually remarked that the counsel “was mum” when asked if there was any material to establish that Yeddyurappa had done a favour to the mining companies. Moreover, since Yeddyurappa was neither a mining minister nor a Chief Minister in 2007 – when mining leases were granted to companies as alleged – the Court thought it to be “beyond anyone’s comprehension” that Yeddyurappa did them any favour.

While the Lokayukta has indicated that it would appeal this Order in the Supreme Court, this decision as well as its rationale gives Yeddyurappa a clean chit in the truest sense for now. More importantly this is a clean chit by a court of law rather than the oft-preferred electorate or friendly media stations.

To provide a brief history, in July 2011, the Lokayukta officially forwarded a report to the Governor HR Bharadwaj indicting Yeddyurappa, among others, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The primary ground for the indictment was that in lieu of favours done to a mining company and a plot of land sold to another, the trust fund of his children Prerana Education Trust and his son-in -law received a total of around 30 crore.

This report was leaked – a rather frequent occurrence these days – before being officially presented to Bharadwaj. Yeddyurappa was pronounced guilty, particularly by political opponents and media outlets leading to his resignation on moral grounds. The Karnataka governor accepted the Lokayukta report and provided sanction for initiating criminal proceedings against Yeddyurappa leading to the issuance of a complaint and an FIR setting the criminal process in motion.

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the complaint and the FIR filed against Yeddyurappa, primarily for lack of material. PTI

Yeddyurappa filed a petition in the Delhi High Court questioning the validity of the Lokayukta report, the Governor’s decision to order sanction as well as asking for the complaint and FIR to be quashed. Much to his delight, he has obtained all reliefs he asked for.

What is interesting is that Yeddyurappa’s petition is a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution – a constitutional remedy – to quash the complaint and FIR. filed under the criminal procedure law. Ordinarily, the remedy against a baseless or deficient FIR is under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code which allows a High Court to pass any order as necessary to secure the ends of justice.

The constitutional remedy under Article 226, on the other hand, is to ask the High Court to issue orders or directions to primarily ensure protection of fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution. As the Court observed, it can interfere through this constitutional remedy “only in the rarest of the rare case” where abuse of power of investigation is made out. The right to ‘life’ in the Constitution includes the right to protection of reputation. And since serious indictments in the Lokayukta report had the effect of tarnishing the reputation of Yeddyurappa, the Court found it appropriate to consider this a “rare” case.

Indeed, to be sure, protection of one’s reputation is not absolute. If it were, anti-corruption bodies would find it difficult to pass indictments against many politicians. Therefore, to balance this right with the dire need to strongly pursue the corrupt, it was considered necessary by the Court that Yeddyurappa be given a chance to respond to the Lokayukta on indictments made against him. This opportunity, required under the principles of natural justice, was particularly vital in this case because initiation of criminal process against a sitting chief minister had serious consequences in as much as he had a moral obligation to resign from a constitutional post in order to ensure fairness in the process.

As ‘clean’ a ‘chit’ as it could be

Moreover, the Karnataka Lokayukta Act does provide the indicted public servant a right to be heard even in such preliminary inquiries. To confirm this, the High Court relied on a few judgments which, incidentally, refute Justice Hegde’s assumptions.

Lastly, this Order sends out an important lesson for governors. In 2008, the same Lokayukta had also found former Karnataka chief minister Dharam Singh (of the Congress party) responsible for giving illegal permits for transportation of illegally mined minerals causing a loss of Rs 23.22 crore and resulting in pecuniary benefit to others (page 161). Surprisingly, this report was not accepted by the governor despite a serious indictment. How the governor could differentiate between the two indictments is unfathomable.

While state governors are vital in ensuring that political offenders don’t get away with unabashed unchecked corruption, they should caution against using the institution of Lokayukta and its reports as a tool to foment political confrontation. While it may not always be intended as a political move, the post of a governor being a sacred constitutional post, care should be taken to ensure that it is not seen to be one.

Ray · 08-03-12, 09:37 PM

Politicians, by and large, are shady in their dealing since they have to dispense patronage to remain in power.

I wonder if any politicians can claim to be purer than driven snow. It is merely a degree of being shady and how well one covers one's tracks.

All said and done, while few would have tears shed for Yedurappa, the conduct of the Governor has been most disgraceful and stooge like.

He has behaved so disgracefully that even the Congress Party at the Centre had to distance itself from him!

What, however, is worth noting is that Hegde, who had built such a good reputation for himself to be taken as the balanced opinion of the Anna Hazare movement, will now no longer appear that crystalline as before.

I hope it does not dull the image of the Anna movement that may erupt from its present limbo!

Yusuf · 08-03-12, 10:35 PM

BSY is an ahole. He should be treated with contempt that he deserves. He thinks the CMship is his personal jagir and has more than embarrassed the BJP with his shenanigans. BSY has spent more money on visiting temples to ward off evil charms than on infra of bangalore in particular and the state at large.

lemontree · 09-03-12, 08:54 AM

With this court judement,... my trust in the judiciary has increased even more.

I can buy them out any time too. Gives me so much more confidence.

Tolaha · 09-03-12, 09:17 AM

Agreed on all points.

Dont think so. However unfortunate it may sound like, that people have so less faith in these systems, but Hegde probably is above legislature/judiciary/media as far as reputation is considered.

Anna movement has already lost its steam and we citizens are ourselves to blame for that.

lemontree · 09-03-12, 09:30 AM

No, Anna Hazare is to blame for the movements failure.

Instead of making it an anti-corruption movement. He made it an anti Congress campaign.

When the issue was being discussed in the Parliament - Anna insisted on carrying out the protest in Mumbai. What for...?

People saw through his farce.

Tolaha · 09-03-12, 09:35 AM

Anna's movement surely had shortcomings. But the ones who were opposing them (politicians and especially Digvijay n team ) had far more issues.

I dont think it is the case of people seeing through the farce. I think people just got bored!

Mad Indian · 14-03-12, 02:41 AM

there is no need for Anna movement if we(Indians) stopped voting like monkeys. we vote the best looters into power all the time and we blame everyone else foe our problems. After all India is still a democracy

HC clears way for BSY to seek Karnataka CM’s job

Ray

parijataka

amitkriit

sesha_maruthi27

parijataka

Ray

Yusuf

lemontree

Tolaha

lemontree

Tolaha

Mad Indian

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