Bangalore: PIL Accuses Santosh Hegde, Advani of Conspiring Against Yeddyurappa

Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Oct 19: An advocate has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the state High Court, alleging that former Chief Minister (CM), B S Yeddyurappa, was sent to jail in tune with a well-planned conspiracy by BJP national leader, L K Advani, general secretary, Anant Kumar, state home minister, R Ashok, former legal advisor to Yeddyurappa, Diwakar, state Governor, H R Bhardwaj, and former Lokayukta, N Santosh Hegde.

H R Vishwanath, a practicing lawyer from the city, has accused Advani, Bhardwaj, and Justice Hegde of acting in tandem with advocate Sirajin Basha, who has filed criminal cases against the former CM.

He has accused Justice Hegde of levelling charges on Yeddyurappa on the basis of allegations made by Y S V Datta, who he said, was once jailed in Calcutta for cheating 17 medical students by collecting money from then and then disappearing.

He has accused the Lokayukta of failing to verify the antecedents of the complainant, Datta. He says that the Governor, having been privy to the conspiracy, granted permission to file cases against Yeddyurappa without checking the genuineness of the complaints, or verifying the documents and denotification papers, and checking their relevance. He also said that the Governor had recommended promotion of a KPS officer named Mane. Advocates Sirajin Basha and Balaraj are trying to extract money from Yeddyurappa through these complaints, Vishwanath has said.

The petitioner said that Yeddyurappa has been caught in a web weaved by some BJP leaders, former Lokayukta, and state Governor. He also expressed suspicion about the conduct of the judge of Lokayukta special court, who he alleged, had unilaterally accepted the complaint for hearing without verifying the past history of the complainants, and ordered issuance of summons to Yeddyurappa.

He says that the complainants do not even have the common sense to understand that the Chief Minister has the right to denotify land, and that a deep conspiracy has worked behind the acceptance of a private complaint for investigation. He recalled that the Governor had on one occasion, declared himself to be a loyal Congressman, and concluded that this loyalty had clouded his sense of judgment while granting permission for Yeddyurappa’s trial.

He has termed as illegal, the act of subjecting a Chief Minister having genuine concerns for the people to rigors of court proceedings, on the basis of private complaint filed by people with criminal background. He alleged that the Lokayukta court has also acted with prejudice. Pointing out that the Governor had permitted filing of one case against Yeddyurappa, the advocate alleged that misusing this order, Sirajin Basha and Balaraj, who had tried to intimidate the former CM earlier to cough up huge sum of money by threatening to sue him, have filed five cases. He also has accused the former Lokayukta and some BJP leaders of creating fake records to defame Yeddyurappa.

He has requested the High Court to form an inquiry committee to probe the connivance of Ashok and others in hatching a conspiracy to unseat Yeddyurappa from the chief ministership. He has also demanded for stalling all further proceedings of the Lokayukta court against the former CM.