Yeddyurappa loses another pal in Cabinet

Katta, third tainted minister to quit

He is also the first to bow out of office over land scams that rocked the State Government in the recent months.

The political circle in the State is now abuzz with speculation on who could be the next in line after Katta. Several ministers, including Yeddyurappa and Home Minister R Ashoka, are facing charges of illegally denotifying and allotting government land.

The Lokayukta police are already investigating into the charges against the top leaders after the JD(S) lodged a 1000-page complaint.

The Government, too, has ordered a parallel inquiry headed by retired High Court judge Justice B Padmaraj into the land scams.

But the question is, can the Lokayukta police act against ministers?

Former advocate general of Karnataka B V Acharya explained: “It is the Lokayukta police who have filed an FIR against Katta and not the Karnataka Lokayukta.

The Lokayukta police act as their regular counterparts and they can apply all provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.

If necessary, the Lokayukta police can take up suo motu investigation also in corruption cases. After the investigation, the case will be dealt in a criminal court.”

Tainted ministers

H Halappa, who was the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, and Ramachandra Gowda, who was the Medical Education Minister, were two other tainted ministers to quit a few months ago. All three were the close confidants of Yeddyurappa.

With Katta’s resignation, the number of vacancies in the Cabinet has risen to seven. But there is no indication of Yeddyurappa taking up the Cabinet expansion exercise at this juncture. There are too many ministerial aspirants and expanding the Cabinet might lead to rebellion in the party.