Orders on BSY bail plea reserved, matter posted to June 13

The CBI Special Court on Wednesday reserved orders on the anticipatory bail applications of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his kin.

CBI judge D R Venkat Sudarshan has posted the matter to June 13 after the conclusion of arguments by CBI counsel Ashok Bhan and senior counsel Ashok Harnahalli, who is appearing for the former chief minister.

Quoting case diaries placed before the court, Bhan said Rs 20 crore was transferred by Jindal Steel Works (JSW) to Prerana Educational and Social Trust, run by Yeddyurappa’s sons.

The money was subsequently transferred to Vivekananda Trust, of which Yeddyurappa is a trustee.
Bhan said: “No contribution has been made to Prerana Trust before Yeddyurappa’s tenure as chief minister or after he demitted office.”

The Supreme Court direction to the CBI to investigate the case was the "bedrock" on which this probe had been initiated and as per Article 141 and 144 of the Constitution, all subordinate courts must assist the Supreme Court, Bhan said.

Payment not made

Bhan said dues amounting to Rs 917 crore had to be collected from various mining firms and paid to the government-run Mysore Minerals Limited. But, it was not done.

Arguing that the entire process of denotification and sale of land was done through forgery and falsification of documents, he said it was hence necessary that CBI further investigate the matter.

Harnahalli submitted that there was nothing wrong in donations to a Trust which was set up for public welfare and that the trustees were not direct beneficiaries of the donations to the Trust.