NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday extended its interim order on the stay on proceedings against former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in a corruption complaint till further orders. The court also asked that the state of Karnataka be impleaded as a party in the matter.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli directed that notice be served to the newly impleaded party, the state of Karnataka. Meanwhile, the court said that the interim order was extended till further orders.
Earlier, the top court stayed the proceedings against Yediyurappa in a corruption complaint. The former Karnataka CM has challenged the Karnataka High Court order which restored a bribery complaint filed against him and others under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Yediyurappa’s petition was filed by advocate-on-record Kush Chaturvedi.
The Karnataka High Court, on September 7, restored the bribery complaint against Yediyurappa, his son B Y Vijayendra and others. The Karnataka HC order had come on the complainant T J Abraham’s plea challenging a lower court order.
“The High Court also erred in holding that the statutory protection granted to public servants under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, would not be an embargo on the power of the Learned Magistrate, Special Court, to order investigation under Section 156(3),” the plea said.
“That the High Court failed to appreciate that Section 17A of the PC Act is cast in mandatory terms and the usage of words “enquiry, inquiry or investigation” in the aforesaid Section is indicative of the vast nature of the extent of the protection sought to be granted to a public servant by Parliament during any stage of a criminal trial or investigation,” the plea said.
Whilst passing the impugned judgment, the High Court erroneously directed the rejection of the sanction (sought by the respondent No. 1/ Complainant) by the Governor ought to have been “ignored”, the plea said. It further added that the High Court ought not to have passed the direction in the face of an order passed by a high Constitutional authority such as the Governor, more so without valid reasoning.
According to the complaint, Yediyurappa used his influence in obtaining contracts in government departments, releasing funds from government departments, and expediting and speeding up the file clearances/movement in various government departments where the company Ramalingam Construction has dealings with. (ANI)