BENGALURU: The senior counsel of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday took every notification issued by the present Congress government constituting the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) as one of the grounds, saying that the notification barred the ACB from investigating the case against public servants before obtaining prior sanction from the appointing authority.
Senior Counsel C V Nagesh made this submission before Justice Aravind Kumar who is hearing the two separate petitions filed by Yeddyurappa against two FIRs registered by the ACB for allegedly denotifying 257 acres of land acquired for Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout in city.
Referring to a notification, Nagesh said, ACB had to obtain sanction from the Governor before investigating into allegations against Yeddyurappa.
Prof Ravivarma Kumar, representing the ACB, raised objections immediately after Nagesh used the words ‘present dispensation’ during the arguments, saying that no new arguments were advanced in the fresh case and there should be a foundation in the writ petition. Making submission as per will is abuse of process of law, Kumar added.
Nagesh also reiterated that the ACB erred in registering an FIR two months after it received the complaint as against the law laid down by the apex court, which states that an FIR should be registered within seven days after receiving complaint and within 15 days in exceptional cases. But, in case of Yeddyurappa, the FIR was filed a day after the ADGP issued an order which was around two months after the complaint was filed, he argued.
Further, he argued that the conduct of the petitioner does not constitute any offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the action of the ACB officials is abuse of process of law and hence it warrants interference of the court.
ACB records statement in case against BSY
Bengaluru: The ACB recorded the statement of Ravi Krishna Reddy, the president of Lanchamukta Bharata Nirmana Vedike on Monday, regarding the complaint filed against BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa. Reddy had written to the Chief Justice of India and other judges as well as the Prime Minister’s Office, stating that an inquiry should be conducted about the seizure of `2 crore from Yeddyurappa’s lawyer H M Siddharth and the subsequent acquittal of Yeddyurappa by a CBI judge. Reddy said that he recorded his statement before the ACB on Monday. “I had written to the Central government in October 2016. I was also told that the Central Government forwarded my letter to the Chief Secretary in May, who in turn forwarded it to the ACB only recently and they have taken up an investigation,” Reddy said.