Bail For Ex-Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa In Corruption Case

A special court dealing exclusively with criminal cases related to legislators has granted bail to former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa in a corruption case.

Judge B Jayantha Kumar granted the bail on Saturday after the advocate for the complainant in the objections that were filed had stated that they did not oppose the granting of bail to the senior BJP leader.

The complainant's advocate K V Dhananjay, however, contended in the submission that they object only to some of the grounds assigned by the accused that was claimed to be irrelevant and improper.

The objections said the bail application of Yediyurappa refers to the case against Congress leader R V Deshpande and other accused against whom the original complaint was filed. But now the case is only against the BJP leader and reference to the others was improper.

"In his bail application, the accused B S Yediyurapppa, has further denied the commission of offence for which he has been summoned and has also offered justification for his actions that are subject of this criminal proceedings. The accused has further insinuated improper motive to this complainant," the objections stated.

"In a proceeding of this nature, it would be unnecessary, improper and unproductive for this complainant to deal with such contentions except to deny it," the objections further stated.

However, the bail was granted to Yediyurappa and the hearing adjourned to July 16.

The special court had summoned the 79-year-old leader in a private complaint filed by one Vasudeva Reddy in 2013.

The Lokayaukta police had filed a B Report in the case citing lack of evidence, but the special court had rejected it.

The complaint alleges that Yediyurappa as the then deputy chief minister in 2006 illegally denotified 15 acres and 30 guntas land in Bengaluru's Bellandur and Devarabeesanahalli that was acquired for an IT park.

R V Deshpande, the former industries minister, was the main accused in the original complaint but the Karnataka High Court had quashed the case against him in 2015. Yediyurappa is the only remaining accused and has been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.