A city civil court on Saturday directed Karnataka BJP President BS Yeddyurappa and Union minister Ananth Kumar to appear before the investigation officer in a case of collecting “ill-gotten money” to give voice samples within a week.
“As per the order of this court (Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru) dated May 6, 2017, you (Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar) are hereby directed to appear before the Investigation Officer to give your voice sample within seven days from the date of this order,” an official release from the magistrate’s office said, quoting the order.
The Congress had on February 14 accused Ananth Kumar and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa of misusing power by collecting “ill-gotten money” and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack them from the party and lodge an FIR against them.
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The party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had released a video clip of a purported conversation between the two leaders on 12 February wherein they admitted having given money when in power.
Playing out the video in which the duo talks about a diary of a Congress leader who allegedly paid Rs 1,000 crore to higher-ups, Surjewala had accused the BJP leaders of hatching a conspiracy ahead of the Assembly polls in state slated for this year.
The case pertains to an FIR lodged by Yeddyurappa and Kumar alleging that doctored tapes of their voices were circulated by unknown persons to malign their images. A local news channel showed a video of Kumar and Yeddyurappa in conversation at a public function where they were seen discussing what’s Congress calls it institutionalised corruption in the BJP and how money exchanged hands when the saffron party was in power in Karnataka.
After filing the FIR in Bangalore, Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar refused to give their voice samples to the police after it began investigating the case. The Karnataka police then sought the metropolitan magistrate’s intervention and the court, on Saturday, ordered that the two leaders must cooperate since the complaint was first lodged by them.
(With PTI inputs)