SC refuses to quash criminal proceedings against HD Kumaraswamy in land de-notification case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to quash criminal proceedings against Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy in an alleged corruption from the period when he was the Karnataka chief minister, reported Bar and Bench.

The court rejected his plea claiming immunity under a 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act, and allowed the trial to move forward.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Dutta and Rajesh Bindal rejected Kumaraswamy’s argument that prosecuting him required prior sanction. It held that the amendment to the Act could not be applied retroactively to alleged corruption that occurred before it was enacted.

The case involves the de-notification of two acres and 24 guntas of land in Halagi Vaderahalli village in the Banashankari area, which the Bangalore Development Authority acquired in 1997.

In 2007, Kumaraswamy, as chief minister, ordered the land to be de-notified despite objections from the Bangalore Development Authority. The land was then sold to private parties for Rs 4.14 crore in 2010.

Following a private complaint, the Lokayukta Police began investigating the case. Kumaraswamy challenged the first information report before the Karnataka High Court, but the plea was dismissed in 2015.

The Supreme Court also refused to quash the FIR in 2016.

In 2019, when Kumaraswamy was serving his second term as chief minister, a closure report was filed in...

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