JOIN USSpeaking to reporters on the Supreme Court premises, Deve Gowda said: ‘’Yes. I have used ‘bloody b…d’ ... against the chief minister. The agony of the farmers who were being pushed into misery had forced me to use such harsh words, but I have withdrawn them and expressed regret.
“In my 53 years of public life, I had never used any unparliamentary word, but I was forced to use such words,’’ he said after attending court proceedings in the BMIC case.
Because of his Z-plus security cover, Deve Gowda’s car was driven straight to the steps of the Supreme Court main building where only a few government law officers, attorney general, solicitor general and additional solicitor general are allowed entry.
Gowda was ushered into the visitors’ gallery, where he listened to the court proceedings which lasted more than half-an-hour.
Initially, he was sitting away from the vision of the judges, but he stood up when there were arguments on his alleged sit-in and diatribe against the state chief minister.
The bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee, R M Lodha and Deepak Varma told NICE counsel Dusyant Dave that they were not concerned with the happenings outside the court. Dave said that Gowda had hired some people to stage a sit-in on the highway.
When Dave said Gowda had used abusive language against the state CM, which could be seen in newspapers, the bench said: “We are not into those.”
Dinakaran lauded
With a few words of praise for Karnataka HC Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, Gowda said he was the one who had referred the matter to Lokayukta, headed by a retired SC judge, for a probe. Gowda alleged that 4,884 acres of land had been grabbed by NICE illegally, in collusion with the state government.
“The project company, the advocate general of the state and the chief minister have colluded, cheated and grabbed 4,884 acres of land,” the former prime minister said.
The JD(S) leader alleged that the senior lawyer appearing for NICE has “misled” the Supreme Court to get favourable orders despite a 2004 order passed against the company. He said NICE “wants to build a mahal (palace) by burying the farmers.” He blamed NICE for delaying the project as it had not deposited the initial money with the government.
While talking to the mediapersons at his residence, Gowda dared the ruling BJP in the state to initiate legal action him for his abuse against the CM. “I dare the chief minister and his party to initiate legal action against me. I will expose the BJP government in Karnataka for its nexus with NICE.”
Meanwhile, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said his party “condemns the abusive language of Gowda.”
DH News Service