Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 13: A special court on Tuesday June 13 turned down the anticipatory bail plea of former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy in 2007 Janthakal mining case. With the court turning down his bail application, Kumaraswamy could be arrested in the case.
In mid-may, the additional city civil and sessions court had granted interim anticipatory bail to Kumaraswamy and had asked the JD(S) state president to deposit a sum of Rs 5 lac as bond along with two sureties. He was also asked by the court not to leave the country and appear before the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team (SIT) whenever summoned.
In the Janthakal mining case, the then chief minister Kumaraswamy was accused of misusing his official position along with his wife Anita, who was a JD(S) MLA. The investigators alleged that the Janthakal mining company was illegally granted lease permit to lift one lakh tonnes of iron ore.
Kumaraswamy was also accused by IAS officer Ganga Ram Baderiya who was the Commissioner of Mines and Geology in 2007 for pressurizing him to allow Janthakal Enterprises Managing Director Vinod Goel to lift one lakh tonnes of iron ore dumped in Chitradurga.
Baderiya also deposed before the investigation officers that Janthakal Enterprises had submitted two forged letters purportedly issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Ganga Ram Baderiya was arrested by the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team in the same case in the month of May and is presently out on bail.
"I need not panic because my anticipatory bail plea has been rejected. I have to follow my advocate's advice. My future course of action will be decided by my advocate," Kumaraswamy, a Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) lawmaker, told reporters here.
"They are raking up an 11-year-old case. It is political vendetta," he said.
Meanwhile, former BJP Minister G. Janardhana Reddy appeared before the anti-corruption watchdog (Lokayukta) SIT on Tuesday.
The SIT had, in May, asked Reddy to furnish evidence to support the bribery allegations he levelled against Kumaraswamy in 2007.
Reddy has alleged that Kumaraswamy and his family received Rs 150 crore in kickbacks from various mining companies.
Kumaraswamy said: "The SIT has asked Janardhana Reddy to produce documents. How can Reddy produce documents on an alleged corruption deal which has not taken place at all? I will come out unscathed."
But the SIT chief, K.S.R. Charan Reddy, on Tuesday said Janardhan Reddy's statement was recorded but refused to disclose its nature.
With IANS Inputs