Yeddyurappa files bail plea in high court

Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who was remanded in judicial custody for a week on Saturday, moved the high court in Bangalore on Monday, seeking bail.

The first BJP chief minister in south India, who surrendered before a Lokayukta court in the state capital on Saturday (See: Yeddyurappa surrenders, sent to judicial custody for a week), after being warned by the court for not making an appearance, however, did not spend his first night in jail.

Yeddyurappa managed to get himself admitted to a hospital after complaining of chest pain, minutes after doctors at the Parappanna Agrahara central prison hospital in Bangalore had examined him and had cleared his being moved into a cell in the special security block. Early on Sunday morning, Yeddyurappa was admitted to the state-run Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Science and Research, where he had a stream of visitors, including the state's chief minister.

And on Monday, his lawyer moved the Bangalore high court, seeking bail for the former disgraced chief minister. The Lokayukta court issued an arrest warrant against Yeddyurappa in connection with corruption cases relating to denotification of land in Bangalore in what has emerged to be a multi-billion rupee scam.

The former chief minister is the prime accused in the case, along with S N Krishnaiah Shetty, a former cabinet minister. His two 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, have however, been granted conditional bail.

Many political leaders and VVIPs who have been arrested of late in various scams across India have managed to escape spending time in jail by complaining of chest pain and other ailments.