“Justice is done. I stand vindicated.” said the relieved former chief minister and BJP Karnataka party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa as he came out of the CBI court today afternoon, after being tried for the 2011 Prerna Trust case. The CBI special court judge R.B. Dharmagoudar acquitted all the people accused in the case including Yeddyurappa‘s two sons B.Y. Raghavendra and B.Y. Vijayendra, and his son-in-law R. N. Sohan Kumar.
Justice is done, I stand vindicated… Thanks to all well wishers,friends & supporters who stood with me in my tough times…
— B.S.Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) October 26, 2016
It all began in 2006, when Yeddyurappa, was a deputy chief minister, and his sons were accused of illegally obtaining 1 acre plot of land (then costing 5.22 crores and now to the sum of 20 crores) at Rahenahalli. Later in 2008 when Yeddyurappa became the Chief Minister, the land was denotified and sold to one of the companies. This money was then allegedly used to cover up the trail of bribery between the Yeddyurappa family and Jindal Steel Works (JSW.) JSW had supposedly deposited a sum of Rs. 20 crore to the Prerana Educational and Social Trust run by Yeddyurappa’s sons to have their mining dues waived and impending lease applications accelerated. Of this Rs. 20 crore payment, Rs. 6 crore was also transferred to Swamy Vivekananda Vidya Samsthe, where Yeddyurappa was a trustee.
This was the second part of the two part bribe sum of total Rs. 40 crores that JSW had allegedly sent to Yeddyurappa’s sons for favours. The first part being when the company had deposited Rs. 20 crores into the bank accounts of B.Y. Raghavendra, B.Y. Vijendra and Sohan Kumar. All these claims were filed in a charge sheet by the CBI and presented in the court in May of 2012. But the trial held today has dismissed all the charges on the grounds of no definite proof. “The prosecution was unsuccessful in establishing them guilty. Hence, all accused were acquitted, and their bail bonds stand cancelled,” advocate C.V. Nagesh said.
The allegations started around 2010 and mounted up to such velocity that Yeddyurappa resigned from his post in 2011, just three years into his ministership, no longer able to stand up to the humiliation. But Bhartiya Janata Party got him back into action following the fall out of the Lingayat vote. Now that his name is cleared, BJP is fast paving way into the Vidhana Soudha with Lingayat vote in its kitty that forms 17% of the total votes. It will be an interesting political drama that will ensue now that Yeddyurappa is out and about.
