BENGALURU: A special court on Thursday dismissed a private complaint against CM BS Yediyurappa, son BY Vijayendra, three other relatives and four others following the governor’s refusal to accord sanction for prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act on June 23.
BDA housing project: Activist wanted probe into corruption charges against BSY family
TJ Abraham, a Bengalurubased social activist, had filed the complaint seeking probe into alleged payment of bribe of Rs 12 crore in a BDA housing project as revealed in a TV expose and collection of Rs 17.5 crore in cash or through shell companies on behalf of the chief minister allegedly by his close family members.
Others mentioned in the complaint included the CM’s grandson Shashidhar Maradi and son-in-law Virupakshappa Yamakanmaradi; Sanjay Sree, son-in-law of Yediyurappa’s daughter Padmavathi; cooperation Minister ST Somashekar and Chandrakanth Ramalingam.
On November 20, 2020, the social activist approached the governor seeking sanction for prosecution against the chief minister and Somashekar.
“The private complaint filed by the petitioner under Section 200 of CrPC and interim application filed under Section 156(3) of CrPC is not maintainable in the absence of valid sanction and is accordingly dismissed,” special judge B Jayantha Kumar observed in his order, placing reliance on the Supreme Court’s decisions on requirement of valid sanction and pointing out that the allegations centered around the CM. Abraham alleged that Rs 12.5 crore bribe was paid by a representative of Ramalingam Construction Company to the CM’s family members in lieu of permission granted to the company to resume a stalled housing project of the BDA.
The complainant claimed he approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau in November 2020 seeking investigation into the case, and the agency closed the case on within three weeks of receiving the complaint.
