Former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa today told the Karnataka High Court his indictment by Lokyukta in its report on illegal mining was 'most irresponsible' action and the anti-corruption watchdog was 'misled' by the inquiry officer.
"Where does corruption come in the donations, Rs 10 crore given to an educational trust and Rs 20 crore for building an auditorium?" senior Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Yeddyurappa said.
Observing that there was 'no mention of Yeddyurappa's name in the entire document', Jethmalani, also a BJP MP, said the then Lokyukta Santosh Hegde had been 'misled' by the enquiry officer.
Terming the indictment as 'most irresponsible action', he contended that the former Chief Minister "deserved to be protected and heard."
The allegations were "without any credible evidence and perverse" without calling for any explanation, he submitted.
In his petition, Yeddyurappa, who was forced to quit in the wake of his indictment, has sought quashing of Chapter 22 of the report, which refers to certain financial transactions between South West Mining Company and Prerana Education Society, in which his two sons are trustees.
Yeddyurappa's sons should have been given an opportunity to explain, instead of (the Lokayukta) just going by the report filed by inquiry officer U V Singh, Jethmalani told the bench comprising Justices K L Manjunath and H S Kempanna.
He said the lease granted to the mining company was in 2007 "when Yeddyurappa was not Chief Minister. It was somebody else who was Chief Minister at that time".
No favouritism was shown to the mining firm, he submitted.
After hearing Jethmalani's submissions, the Court posted the petition to August 29 for orders.