SC stays HC order refusing to quash corruption case against B S Yediyurappa

In a relief to former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, the Supreme Court on Friday granted an interim stay on the 2020 Karnataka High Court order refusing to quash a corruption case related to the de-notification of land against him.

The High Court, on December 22, 2020, refused to quash a criminal complaint registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Yediyurappa, accused of de-notifying parcels of land and allotting it to entrepreneurs during his tenure as the Deputy Chief Minister between February 2006 and October 2007.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli also issued notices to the Karnataka Lokayukta police and Vasudeva Reddy on an appeal of Yediyurappa against the order of the high court.

The counsel for the former CM contended that the High Court had quashed the FIR against co-accused Raghunath Vishwanath Deshpande in the same case in 2015 and in this backdrop, the probe against Yediyurappa was illegal and amounted to the abuse of the judicial process.

The FIR was registered by the Karnataka Lokayukta Police on December 21, 2015, on a private complaint filed by Reddy for the offence under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.