BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP president BS Yeddyurappa has been acquitted by a special CBI court in Bengaluru of charges of corruption, cheating, criminal conspiracy, and forgery. Caught up in an alleged Rs 40 Crore mining case since 2011, when he was the chief minister. Also acquitted were his sons BY Raghavendra, and BY Vijayengdra, son-in-law RN Sohan Kumar, and nine others including top officials of JSW Steel.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a chargesheet in the case on October 16, 2012, naming Yeddyurappa and 12 others, claiming evidence has been found on payment of Rs 40 Crore by affiliates of JSW Steel to personal bank accounts of the leader's family members, and family trust. The CBI had charged that the personal bank accounts of Raghavendra, now a BJP MLA in Karnataka, Vijayendra, and Kumar received Rs 20 crore between August and September 2010 from a JSW Steel-affiliate South West Mining Company. It also claimed in its chargesheet that an additional sum of Rs 20 crore was donated by JSW Steel affiliates to the Prerana Educational and Social Trust run by the leader's sons.
These payments were cited as quid pro quo for mining-related favours granted to the firm by the then state government, including waiver of dues, supply of iron ore at concessional rates, and imposing a ban on exports of iron ore. Yeddy's lawyers argued that the Rs 20 Crore donation to the trust was part of the company's corporate social responsibility initiatives. They also argued that the trustees were barred from using the fund for any other purpose other than charitable goals. While the CBI alleged that a forged no-objection certificate was presented to facilitate the transaction, the investigating agency did not provide proof to substantiate the claim as per the lawyers. Following the acquittal, Yeddyurappa tweeted, "Satyameva Jayathe. Justice is done. I stand vindicated."
