Case against minister adjourned to Oct 15

MYSORE : The Chamarajnagar principal sessions court will hear on October 15, a case filed against minister H S Mahadev Prasad alleging that he got a house allotted by Karnataka Housing Board at Chamarajanagar town by filing a false affidavit.
Principal sessions judge V G Savadkar, who took up the case on Friday, adjourned it after hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the counsel for the complainant, RTI activist Hirebegur Nandish.
Nandish alleged that Prasad got a KHB house allotted in Chamarajanagar town by filing a false affidavit in which he suppressed the fact that he owned a house in Mysore built on a site allotted by MUDA. Based on his complaint, the Lokayukta police conducted a probe and submitted their final report against the minister. The lokayukta report said the minister violated section 199 of the IPC. On Friday, the judge sought the opinion of the public prosecutor, which was objected to by Mallikarjun Swamy, counsel for the complainant. The public prosecutor said that as section 199 has been violated, the case could be transferred to a lower court for hearing. However, Mallikarjun Swamy argued that the PP had no locus standi in the case as the complaint has been filed by a private individual.
"I am also going to file a contempt petition against lokayukta SP who submitted the report in which he expressed his own opinion on the case and guided the court, which is not warranted from an investigating officer," he said. As a minister had violated various other sections of the IPC also, the present court should try it, he added. "I am not going to agree with the police officer's suggestion on the minister inviting punishment under provisions of section 199 of the IPC," he argued urging the judge to post the case to a further date where he will argue how the minister committed crime under various other sections of the IPC which invite more punishment and which are interlinked with section 199.
The counsel for the complainant said the investigation report has exposed the minister owning a site in Mysore, which was converted into a commercial site and where a commercial complex has come up.It may be recalled here that lokayukta SP Jagadish Prasad investigated the case and submitted final report on the day of his retirement (September 30).