BANGALORE: In what could spell trouble to former chief ministers N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy, social activist T J Abraham on Monday filed a petition before Speaker K G Bopaiah seeking sanction to prosecute them for their alleged roles in illegal mining.
Abraham filed the petition before Bopaiah after a similar petition of his to the Lok Sabha secretariat was turned down on grounds that the allegations of illegal mining against the two former chief ministers pertained to the period when they were members of the state Assembly.
However, to a similar petition he filed against Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, the Rajya Sabha secretariat had said that the prosecution at this state is unwarranted and can happen only when a charge sheet is filed.
Abraham said he was pained at deterioration of ethics in public life. "I have decided to initiate criminal proceedings against the three MPs and get them prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; The Karnataka Forests Act, 1963; The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957; and the Indian Penal Code."
Bopaiah, meanwhile, professed ignorance at the petitions as he is in his Assembly constituency.