Press Trust of India: Bengaluru: Sunday, August 20, 2017.
BJP Karnataka
unit president B S Yeddyurappa today sought 10 more days to appear before the
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with an alleged illegal land
de-notification case.
The former
chief minister had been asked to appear before the bureau today for questioning
in the case of de- notification of over 257 acres in Dr K Shivaram Karanth
Layout in northern Bengaluru.
The ACB had
registered the case based on a complaint filed by a member of social
organisation Jana Samanya Vedike.
Yeddyurappa
requested the ACB to provide him 10 more days to gather all facts.
Pointing out
that there was a gap of only two days between the date of issuing the summons
and the date of appearance, Yeddyurappa said that upon his request he was
furnished the copies of the complaint and the FIR, along with the preliminary
inquiry report, yesterday.
He said in
the preliminary inquiry report several documents have been mentioned but none
of these has been furnished to him.
"I am
making efforts to get all the necessary details regarding the above mentioned
case from various government departments under the RTI Act. I, therefore,
request you to provide me 10 days' time to gather all facts and appear before
you so that I will be in a position to answer all questions that may arise in
connection with the investigation of the above case," he wrote to the
bureau.
Sources close
to Yeddyurappa said he would also move the high court seeking quashing of the
case.
The BJP and
Yeddyurappa have alleged that the ACB is being used by the Siddaramaiah-led
Congress government in the state to target the party in retaliation for the
recent Income Tax department raids on Energy Minister D K Shivakumar.
Yeddyurappa
has been accused of de-notifying 257 acres of land from the preliminary
notification of 3,546 acres meant for the formation of Dr K Shivaram Karanth
Layout bypassing the de-notified committee approval, when he was the chief
minister.
Rejecting the
BJP's allegation of the government using the ACB against the party leaders,
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said every one is equal before the law.
"Can
anyone purposefully file an FIR? There are courts...based on the CAG report a
complaint was given, based on the complaint they (officials) have investigated
and have filed an FIR. Everyone has to abide by law," he told reporters in
Tumkuru.
"Is
there anyone above the law? Everybody is equal before the law, whether it is
Yeddyurappa or anyone else," he added.
Hitting back
at Yeddyurappa for threatening to put him behind bars when the BJP comes to
power, Siddaramaiah said he was making such statements out of
"frustration" as FIRs have been registered against him.
"He has
gone to jail and come, so same feeling is still troubling him. He doesn't have
basic knowledge. How can Yeddyurappa put someone into jail? Does he have
anything (proof)?" he questioned.
Siddaramaiah
said all these had started after BJP president Amit Shah chided party leaders
for being inactive and told them that the party would lose in the Assembly
polls, during his three-day visit to the state.
At a party
rally here yesterday, Yeddyurappa had vowed to put Siddaramaiah behind bars by
exposing scams, once the BJP came to power in the state.
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