JOIN USArguing for Yeddyurappa, senior counsel Ravi B Naik sought to question the history of Sirajin Basha, who had filed the private complaint against the former chief minister for illegal denotification of land around Bangalore.
“Who is this Basha? He is facing Bar Council proceedings and has been removed as a Bar Association member due to gambling,” Naik said.
Irked by Naik’s comments, C H Hanumantharaya, senior counsel for Basha, objected to it, saying it was a bad precedent to bring issues that had not been placed on record.
“If this is the case, then we should also talk about the review petition that is filed saying that he (Yeddyurappa) killed his wife,” Hanumantharaya said.
An undeterred Naik hit back in an obvious reference to Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy, saying: “The person who has committed bigamy is behind this. He is an MP and lawmaker and he himself has violated the law. If a government employee had done this, then he would be dismissed. Even the former Lokayukta has mentioned this.” However, Hanumantharaya replied, “He has sought the consent of his first wife for this.”
At this stage, Judge N K Sudhindra Rao put a firm stop to it saying there would be no more talk about bigamy or murder. Earlier, Supreme Court senior counsel Uday Lalit argued for granting bail to Yeddyurappa, stating that sanction accorded by the governor was a collective spectrum and not in each one of the cases in isolation. “Since the sanction for prosecution was collective, the bifurcation of the cases into different complaints is illegal,” he said.