Time running out for BSY after Lokayukta says prosecute him

“Why should I resign?” he said on his arrival in Delhi late in the night. “All our all-India leaders are with us. All our MLAs are with us. And the question of my resignation does not arise,” he said,before his meeting with BJP president Nitin Kadkari.

The meeting,which continued well past midnight,was also attended by Arun Jaitley,Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu.

In his report,Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde clearly indicted Yeddyurappa and recommended action under Section 13 (i) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 in connection with the donation of Rs 20 crore by affiliates of the Jindal steel company to a Trust run by the Chief Minister’s family. The report also said that Yeddyurappa’s sons sold land worth Rs 1.4 crore in the market for Rs 20 crore,to the same company. Both were part of a quid pro quo deal for recommending a mining lease for the company,said the Lokayukta.

“The donation to the Trust run by the Chief Minister’s family was done by the affiliate companies through a borrowing. I find it hard to explain why companies that were not doing well had to borrow money to donate to the Trust. I have come to the incontrovertible conclusion that the donation and land sale considerations were not for genuine reasons,’’ said Justice Hegde.

The Lokayukta said that the quantum of loss to the state exchequer,between 2006 and 2010,from illegal iron ore exports and mining has been estimated at Rs 16,085 crore.

He recommended the recovery of four times the loss caused to the exchequer from every individual indicted in the report. Among those in the list are former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anil Lad,who holds a mining lease in his wife’s name,two BJP MLAs and 787 government officials.

The Lokayukta said criminal action under the Indian Penal Code has been recommended against the Reddy brothers,who ran a large illegal exports racket out of the iron ore-rich Bellary district.

The report comprises a total of 25,228 pages with all the annexures amounting to a total of 34 chapters. The core report itself is spread over 943 pages.

“One chapter is dedicated to the collapse of the administration in Bellary under political influence,’’ said Justice Hegde. “The Reddy brothers have claimed to have no mining in Karnataka. We have enough documents to prove the contrary,’’ he said.

“I hope the government will sincerely take action against those named in the report as contemplated under law and recover the loss caused. One hope is that the Supreme Court which is monitoring illegal mining in Karnataka will take cognizance,’’ said Justice Hegde.

“I have recommended that the government and the Governor take further steps. A copy of the report was given to the Governor under Section 12 (3) of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act 1984 because the Governor is the competent authority to decide on the action recommended against the Chief Minister,’’ he said.

Prosecution for criminal misconduct as envisaged under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 entails a prison term of one to seven years. The Governor is expected to peruse the report against Yeddyurappa and his cabinet colleagues and sanction their prosecution,leading to the filing of FIRs before the police.

In the first report on illegal mining presented to the government in December 2008,the Karnataka Lokayukta had named public servants like former Congress chief minister N Dharam Singh but had not recommended prosecution.

— with ENS inputs from Delhi