BANGALORE: Nothing seems to be going right for former chief ministers BS Yeddyurappa and HD Kumaraswamy. The fact that former information technolgy and biotechnology minister Katta Subramanya Naidu and his corporator son Jagadis are already behind bars on charges of land grabbing makes the picture all the more gloomy for them.
Both Yeddyurappa and Kumaraswamy are accused of denotifying lands for pecuniary gains and also of eating into the illegal mining pie. Yeddyurappa and his family members have been charged in several denotification cases besides being accused of taking kickbacks in awarding tenders for the Upper Bhadra project.
On the other hand, Kumaraswamy is accused of violating norms while renewing the mining licence of Jantakal Mining Company during his tenure as chief minister, while his wife of is alleged to have got a site from Vishwabharati Housing Society as a kickback after Kumaraswamy made a bulk allotment of land to it.
The Lokayukta special court before which these cases are listed had issued summons on August 8 asking both of them to appear in person on August 27 pertaining to a few cases. Following this, both applied for anticipatory bail only to be rejected by the courts.
As a result, Yeddyurappa, his sons Lok Sabha member BY Raghavendra, BY Vijayendra and his son in-law RN Sohankumar along with 11 other accused were forced to stand in the accused box in court on August 29, thus earning him the dubious distinction of being the first chief minister to have done so. The court has adjourned the next hearing in the case to September 7. Yeddyurappa and his family members have now moved a regular bail application.
In Kumaraswamy’s case, the court has asked him and his wife to be present before it on September 5 after they failed to appear on August 30 citing ill health. Meanwhile, the high court had dismissed Kumaraswamy’s petition seeking to drop investigations against him by the Lokayukta.
Striking Similarities
Once friends, then foes, both now facing the threat of a jail term. The similarity between both of them continues even in the cases they are facing and also in the involvement of their family members. Interestingly, both have been indicted by the Lokayukta over illegal mining.
Yeddyurappa has his two sons and son-in-law Sohankumar for a company in his legal fight, while Kumaraswamy has his wife Anita Kumaraswamy who is also a JD(S) MLA from Madhugiri.
During their tenure, both of them faced charges of corruption. While Kumaraswamy has been accused of getting Rs 150 crore in kickbacks from the mining lobby, Yeddyurappa has faced several charges from nepotism to denotification to illegal mining. Even in troubled times, both strike a strange similarity as they chose a common enemy in former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde. Both strongly feel that Hegde is responsible for their present troubles.
