BENGALURU: In a relief to CM BS Yediyurappa, the Karnataka High Court has quashed a case registered against him for violation of the Model Code of Conduct during the Gokak bypolls, in Belagavi district, in November 2019. He had campaigned there for the BJP candidate.
Hearing the petition filed by Yediyurappa, Justice Suraj Govindaraj quashed the complaint, dated November 26, 2019, registered for the offences under Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act and Section 171F of the Indian Penal Code, the summons issued by the JMFC court, Gokak, on June 26 this year and all further proceedings.
The flying squad had registered a complaint at the Gokak Town police station on the ground that Yediyurappa, during his campaign speech on November 23, had appealed that votes of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community should be consolidated, and not divided.
No offence committed by BSY, says HC
Yediyurappa had also called upon them to vote en bloc in favour of the party candidate. “In the present case, on the basis of the allegation made in the complaint, it cannot be prima facie concluded that the petitioner has committed offence by exercising undue influence on the person/s who had gathered for an election rally in terms of Section 171C of the IPC”, the judge observed.
The judge said there is no offence which can be said to have been committed by the petitioner (Yediyurappa) requiring prosecution. Justice Govindaraj noted that this does not prevent any action to be taken against the party candidate for violation of Section 123 of the Representation of the
People Act.