Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday got a breather, when the State High Court granted him anticipatory bail in a corruption case related to illegal mining. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently probing the case on the direction of the Supreme Court.
Justice Subash B Adi, who pronounced the order, also granted anticipatory bail to Yeddyurappa’s two sons - B Y Raghavendra, a Member of Parliament from Shimoga and B Y Vijayendra and his son-in-law R Sohan Kumar, who were also accused of receiving kickbacks from mining firms. Yeddyurappa and his sons along with son-in-law had moved the HC after the CBI special court rejected their anticipatory bail plea on June 13.
The Judge accepted the argument in favour of Yeddyurappa and kin and granted the bail to all the four accused on the condition that they furnish a bond of Rs 200,000 each and two sureties of the same amount each. Pronouncing the order, Justice Adi said, “The accused should not leave Bangalore without the permission of the CBI and shall not tamper with evidence. The CBI can approach this court for cancellation of the anticipatory bail if any of the conditions are violated.”
The Central investigation agency had registered the cases against the accused on May 15 after the SC accepted the recommendation of Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on May 11 for thorough investigation into the alleged kickbacks received by them for granting mining leases to JSW Steel and its subsidiary South West Mining Ltd (SWML).
The cases against the former chief minister pertain to donation of Rs 10 crore from SWML to Prerana Education Trust, operated by Yeddyurappa’s sons and the sale of 1.12 acres land by the accused to the company for an exhorbitant price of Rs 20 crore, which was denotified by Yeddyurappa when he was the chief minister of the state in 2010.
The CEC also charged Yeddyurappa’s kin of receiving Rs 6 crore bribe from mining baron Praveen Chandra through real estate firms set up by them.
Yeddyurappa resigned as chief minister on July 31, 2011 after the Lokayuktha (ombudsman) Justice N Santosh Hegde indicted him and recommended his trial in the mining scam in his final report on illegal mining in Karnataka.
