Bengaluru, April 28 (IANS) A division bench of the High Court, hearing an appeal filed by life-term convict and Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni challenging the verdict of the Special Court for MLAs/MPs, has issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the case and filed the chargesheet.
The division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Nawaz and Justice Venkatesh T. Naik, also directed the High Court registry to obtain all relevant documents pertaining to the case from the lower court. Along with Vinay Kulkarni, accused No. 16, Chandrashekar Indi alias Chandu Mama, has also filed an appeal.
Senior counsel C.V. Nagesh, appearing for Vinay Kulkarni, argued that all seven witnesses in the case had turned hostile. He also requested that the matter be taken up by the vacation bench, as court holidays are approaching. The court accepted the request and directed that a petition be filed before the vacation bench, assuring that the petitioner would be heard.
Meanwhile, the prosecution sought four weeks’ time to file its objections to the appeal petition, which seeks an immediate stay on the Special Court’s verdict. The prosecution submitted that the judgment runs into 680 pages and requires detailed examination before objections can be filed.
The court observed that since the appeal has been taken up for the first time, it would need to hear the Central Bureau of Investigation’s submissions on the matter.
In another related development, social activist Basavaraj Koravar, the whistle-blower in the case, has written to the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and the J&K L-G, seeking the disqualification of Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni following his conviction and life sentence in a criminal case.
In his letter, Koravar noted that a Special Court for Members of Parliament/Members of the Legislative Assembly delivered its verdict on April 17, sentencing Kulkarni to life imprisonment. However, even after ten days since the order, no action has been taken to disqualify him from his position as an MLA. Raising concern over the delay, Koravar urged the Speaker to take immediate steps to disqualify Vinay Kulkarni in accordance with the law.
It can be recalled that Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Zilla Panchayat member Yogesh Gowda was hacked to death by a group of assailants at his own gym in Dharwad city on June 15, 2016. He had challenged Kulkarni politically, and the incident soon took a turn for the worse.
Kulkarni was arrested in 2020 and released on bail in 2021. He was accused of influencing witnesses, following which the Central Bureau of Investigation sought cancellation of his bail, alleging violation of bail conditions. The court accepted the plea and revoked his bail.
Subsequently, Kulkarni, who is currently the Chairman of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, surrendered before the authorities and was recently released on bail again before the conviction. Currently, he is lodged in the Bengaluru Central Prison.
Vinay Kulkarni was listed as accused number 15. The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Bharatiya Janata Party government. At the time the allegations surfaced, Kulkarni was serving as a minister and district in-charge minister.
–IANS
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