A CBI court in Bengaluru on Wednesday acquitted former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and three of his family members of all charges in a mining graft case that had cost him the CM chair in 2011. He was accused of favouring two companies and receiving illegal gratification from them through Prerana Trust, managed by his sons and son-in-law.
“The prosecution has been unsuccessful in establishing the guilt of the accused, of not only offences under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, but also under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and hence this court acquits all the accused in the case,” said 21st Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge and Principal Special Judge for CBI cases, RB Dharamagoudar while acquitting Yeddyurappa, his two sons, son-in-law and the steel company and its affiliates, in his more than 400-page verdict.
The acquittal of Yeddyurappa and his family members in the Rs 40 crore bribery and corruption case which relates to alleged favours granted to an affiliate company of steel major JSW Steel to mine iron ore in the mineral-rich Bellary district of the State in August 2011, will have serious political impact in Karnataka, within the BJP and outside, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.
The verdict has given impetus to Yeddyurappa, who was appointed State BJP chief in April this year.
Immediately after the verdict Yeddyurappa tweeted, “Satyameva Jayate.”
Even as Yeddyurappa and his sons exchanged hugs and smiles in the court, outside the court premises supporters celebrated with firecrackers and raised slogans in praise of the leader.
Yeddyurappa said, “I am happy that the false allegations and politically-motivated charges have been dismissed. This pronouncement has come as a relief to lakhs of BJP workers and provided a new vigour to me. I have a task at hand to bring the party back to power in the next Assembly elections. To this end, I will be touring all the constituencies to gather support for the party.”
The BJP welcomed the acquittal as a good decision.
“A good decision has come today,” BJP’s National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
He party’s Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy said the court’s order has vindicated Yeddyurappa’s stand.
The CBI’s chargesheet filed on October 16, 2012, had accused Yeddyurappa and 12 others of corruption after it was alleged that Rs 20 crore was deposited in bank accounts belonging to Yeddyurappa’s sons BY Raghavendra and BY Vijendra, and son-in-law Sohan Kumar between August and September 2010.
As many as 12 other accused, including former Minister SN Krishnaiah Setty, were also acquitted from all the charges due to lack of evidence.
lokayukta Santosh Hegde, in chapter 22 of his 2011 report on illegal mining in the State, had referred to the transactions between M/s South West Mining Company and Prerana Trust and recommended a probe, accusing Yeddyurappa of illegally favouring the mining companies.
Samaj Parivarthan Samstha (an NGO from Dharwad) of SR Hiremath produced the lokayukta report on illegal mining before the Supreme Court, which sought a report from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on the mining transactions. The Supreme Court, on the recommendation of CEC, in May 2012 directed the CBI to probe the case by registering an FIR and submit a report to the jurisdictional court in Bengaluru.
The case had also seen Yeddyurappa spending about three weeks in jail in October 2011 before being granted bail. With this, Yeddyurappa who led the first BJP Government in the South has been cleared of charges in most of the graft-related cases but is still battling some more cases.