Bigamy case against Kumaraswamy

Petition seeks disqualification of HDK as Lok Sabha memberBangalore: A City-based advocate has filed a writ petition before the High Court against for

Shashidhar Belagumba moved the petition (No 3994/2011) on Wednesday, stating that Kumaraswamy, who is a Lok Sabha member, ought to be disqualified from the membership of Parliament as he has committed “a crime” by marrying again during the lifetime of his first wife, Anitha.

The petitioner has referred to Section 494 of the IPC (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife). The petitioner has referred to Radhika’s admission in the press and its confirmation by Kumaraswamy.

The JD(S) leader has also confirmed fathering a child with Radhika, according to the petition, which said that being a Hindu, Kumaraswamy is prohibited from bigamy.
Admitting that the complaint ought to be filed only by an aggrieved person, Belagumba has pointed out that he was not seeking any prosecution against the JD (S) leader.

“Every Indian citizen should be treated equally and the law of the land uniformly applied to everyone as enunciated in Article 14 of the Constitution,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner is represented by H R Vishwanath, the advocate who has filed a public interest litigation in support of former B S Yeddyurappa.

Political vendetta

Senior counsel Hashmath Pasha, arguing for the quashing of proceedings against former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy in the High Court on Wednesday, claimed that it was purely ‘political vendetta’ that led to the complaint against his client.

The complaint accuses him of misusing power for personal benefit.

The counsel pleaded the HC to quash the proceedings against Kumaraswamy and his wife, Anitha, in the Special Lokayukta Court.

“The complaint has nothing, but political vengeance and it has been instigated by a political person for vendetta,” Pasha submitted before a Bench headed by Justice V Jaganathan.

The submission spoke about the complaint being filed three weeks after the initial case against Yeddyurappa was filed in the Special Lokayukta Court.   

He contended that the complaint was based on documents that were not even certified government records.

“The documents collected by the complainant show that they were not collected by a advocate, but by those with access to the ruling party. Most documents that have been attached in the complaint show the signature of the political secretary to the former chief minister, B J Puttaswamy,” he argued.

With regard to illegal mining lease being given to Jantakal Mining Company, Pasha blamed a ‘corrupt’ Commissioner of Mines and Geology who has been involved with the Managing Director of the firm in question, Vinod Goel.