BENGALURU: In a temporary relief to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) gave an undertaking before the High Court that it will neither arrest nor summon him for questioning till Monday, the next date of hearing.
The ACB counsel gave this undertaking before Justice Arvind Kumar, after Yeddyurappa’s counsel expressed apprehension that his client could be arrested before Monday. Yeddyurappa had approached the HC challenging the two FIRs registered against him by ACB on charges of illegal denotification.
Contending that the cases were registered against Yeddyurappa only to harass and humiliate him, his counsel said the scheme (Dr Shivarama Karanth Layout) has lapsed with the HC quashing the land acquisition proceedings. The only thing which was done by Yeddyurappa was that he recommended the BDA to look into the grievances of some persons and not to include their lands in the final notification. The acquisition authority (BDA) did not act on the CM’s request and passed a resolution against the recommendation on May 22, 2012, on the ground that the layout cannot be formed as planned, he argued.
“There is no basic material to indicate the said offences. The allegations that Yeddyurappa caused a huge loss to the exchequer and also benefited from the denotification are baseless. Except these allegations, there are no materials for illegal gratification. No offence is made out as cited in the FIRs,” he argued. He added that two FIRs were registered on the same set of facts.
Reference to CM deleted
After ACB counsel raised objections to the reference made in the petition that “Siddaramaiah who is the master of ACB misused the agency and using it as a tool against opposition leaders. So that Yeddyurappa is falsely implicated,” was deleted from both the petitions.
Worried over fewer HC judges: Chief Justice
Bengaluru: Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Subhro Kamal Mukherjee on Wednesday rued the dwindling strength of judges in the High Court. He made this observation as the number of judges in the High Court is coming down due to the retirement of a couple of judges in the last few months. There have been no fresh appointments either. The strength of High Court judges has come down to 27 as against the strength of 62. The observation came at the farewell programme of Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri, who retired as the Judge of Karnataka HC on Wednesday. He was appointed as additional judge of High Court in 2005. Justice Hinchigeri delivered served for 12. In November 2016, while hearing a case about an elderly woman being removed from her property by a monel lender, the judge asked the state government to prescribe a plan to protect senior citizens.
Report on absconding convicts sought
Bengaluru: The High Court on Wednesday directed the state public prosecutor to submit a report within three months with regard to the procedure followed while releasing 42 convicts who were on parole. The division bench of Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice John Michael Cunha sought to know how the Karnataka Prisons Act, Prison Rules and Manual, were applied for parole as 42 convicts were absconding aVfter availing such facility between 2006 and 2014. The court was hearing a case registered suo motu against prison authorities for not bringing back 24 of the 42 prisoners who are missing after being released on parole.