Both leaders, until a few days back, were engaged in a pitched political battle for power
Seen as rivals in Karnataka politics, BJP leader BS Yediyurappa and Congress leader DK Shivakumar displayed rare bonhomie in the Supreme Court on Friday to oppose an NGO which sought revival of criminal proceedings against them in a land scam of 2010.
Both leaders, until a few days back, were engaged in a pitched political battle for power. Shivakumar was sent as the emissary of the Congress Party to get back 15 rebel Congressmen who had deserted the Congress fold and joined hands with BS Yediyurappa, to help him stake claim as Karnataka Chief Minister after toppling the HD Kumaraswamy government. Leaving the past behind, Yediyurappa led by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and Shivakumar led by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah that the alleged land scam against them was quashed by the Karnataka High Court on December 18, 2015. One of the private complainants Kabbalegowda who approached the Supreme Court in 2016 to challenge this order too withdrew the petition in February 2019. The two lawyers wondered what remained to be heard as the NGO Samaj Parivartan Samuday was a complete stranger to this case.
The NGO represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan claimed that their intervention application was pending on February 21, 2019 when the private complainant Kabbalegowda mentioned the case and withdrew his petition. The NGO was not heard and since they apprehended that the complainant could withdraw, its application became all the more relevant to unearth the corruption behind the alleged land scam.
Rohatgi claimed that an intervenor cannot seek revival of a criminal proceeding while Singhvi said that once the complainant who was before the HC has withdrawn, there was no occasion for the court to entertain the request of the NGO. Moreover, he only seeks to intervene. Bhushan argued that in such situations, it is left to the court to decide on the course of action if the public good lies in hearing the petition. The bench told both sides, "We are not going to decide on merits. But since the NGO application was pending, whether he should be impleaded in the case should be gone into by this court." However, the court sought to ascertain the facts of the case and posted the matter for hearing on a future date.
The case arises out of a chargesheet filed against Shivakumar and Yediyurappa by the Karnataka Lokayukta on June 21, 2012.
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