Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa suffers a setback as a judge demands new investigation into an old corruption allegation

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa suffered a judicial defeat on Saturday when a special court for elected representatives dismissed a Karnataka Lokayukta closure report on charges of corruption in land dealings dating back to Yediyurappa's stint as Deputy Chief Minister.

In a private complaint submitted in 2013, 90th Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Shridhar Gopalakrishna Bhat rejected a "B" report for the completion of investigations against Yediyurappa, claiming that the probe was just perfunctory. In December of last year, the Karnataka High Court ordered a probe into the issue.

The Karnataka High Court had directed the Lokayukta police to investigate corruption claims against Yediyurappa in December last year, and they had reported to the special court on January 18, 2021, that Yediyurappa had committed "no infraction" under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.

The allegation is that through a July 21, 2006 government notification, Yediyurappa, as deputy chief minister, illegally de-notified parts of nearly 434 acres of land that had been acquired by the state for an Information Technology corridor between the Whitefield and Electronic City IT hubs "for illegal gain."

According to the special court, the Lokayukta only performed a cursory examination into the claims against the Karnataka chief minister and did not conduct a thorough investigation.

In a separate case, the high court agreed in January to reinstate a corruption allegation against Yediyurappa and former state industries minister Murugesh Nirani for allegedly failing to honor a promise to grant 26 acres of land to a private investor Alam Pasha in 2011. A sessions court had previously invalidated Pasha's private complaint case against Yediyurappa on August 26, 2016.

After serving as Karnataka's chief minister since 2008, Yediyurappa was forced to resign in 2011 after the Karnataka Lokayukta implicated him in a report on illicit mining in the state. He was also charged by the CBI, but the case was dismissed by a Bengaluru sessions court.

The chief minister's legal defeats come at a time when the BJP is split over Yediyurappa's leadership, manner of operation, and alleged intervention in administration by the chief minister's son, B Y Vijayendra.

Read Also - CM Yediyurappa: ‘No Lockdown, Curfew In Bengaluru’ Amid Rising Cases In Karnataka