New Delhi, March 26 The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an independent probe into Karnataka Minister for Cooperation K.N. Rajanna’s claim that political rivals tried to "honey trap him".
Refusing to entertain the plea, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta asked the PIL litigant’s counsel to explain as to how a non-Karnataka resident was concerned with the affairs of Karnataka.
Ultimately, the apex court dismissed the PIL seeking an investigation into the alleged honey trap scandal to be either monitored by the Supreme Court itself or by a committee headed by a retired top court judge.
Last Thursday, Senior Minister Rajanna, on the floor of the state Assembly, admitted that he had fallen victim to a honey trap, further claiming that over 48 politicians across Karnataka and the country had been trapped similarly.
On March 24, the PIL was mentioned for urgent hearing before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, who assured listing the matter in a day or two.
After Rajanna’s claim and the state opposition BJP's demand for an investigation into the issue, state Home Minister G. Parameshwara announced that a high-level probe would be conducted.
"This is a question of the honour of every member of this House. We must put an end to it," Parameshwara emphasised.
"Minister Rajanna has stated that he will file a written complaint. Based on that, I will order a high-level inquiry. Let the truth come out. The facts must be known,” he added.
Subsequently, the Home Minister, when asked about the controversy, stated on Monday that he had not yet received a complaint from Minister Rajanna.
"Without a complaint, we cannot initiate action. There must be a cause for action. Without an FIR, no action can be taken,” he stated.
The issue sparked a heated debate in the Legislative Assembly, leading to dramatic developments as members became emotional while discussing the matter, and BJP member N. Munirathna even alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is behind the honey trap network in Karnataka.
It also led to the suspension of 18 BJP MLAs from the Assembly for six months with immediate effect, on charges of showing disrespect to the Speaker’s Chair on Friday. The suspension came following the disruption of the proceedings while staging a protest in the Well of the house while demanding a judicial or CBI probe into the alleged honey trap attempt involving Minister Rajanna
The Karnataka BJP has slammed the Congress-led government’s move to suspend its MLAs, saying that they were suspended for demanding justice in the alleged honey trap scandal.
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