Yeddyurappa’s bail plea rejected, faces arrest

Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa – who was the first BJP chief minister of a southern state – faces arrest after a Lokayukta court in Bangalore rejected his bail plea on Saturday.

Judge N K Sudhindra Rao issued an arrest warrant against Yeddyurappa and S N Krishnaiah Shetty, who was a minister in his cabinet, and directed the two be arrested. The case relates to the alleged irregularities indulged in by the former chief minister in the denotification of government land.

Yeddyurappa, who was forced to quit in July after a severe indictment by the Lokayukta in the illegal mining case, was not present in court. He had furnished a medical certificate claiming he was suffering from back pain.

However, the court granted conditional bail to his sons B Y Raghavendra, a Lok Sabha MP, and B Y Vijayendra, and his son-in-law Sohan Kumar, who are also accused of being involved in the scam.

The cases against Yeddyurappa and his relatives were filed by Sirajin Bhasha and N K Balaraj, two advocates from Bangalore, in January.

They accused the former chief minister of illegally denotifying land in Bangalore for monetary gains. In all, the advocates have filed five private cases against the former chief minister.