Arrest warrant issued against former Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa

Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who quit in July over graft charges, on Saturday faced jail as a trial court rejected his bail plea and issued a warrant to arrest him.

Yeddyurappa was not present in the Lokayukta special court when judge N.K. Sudhindra Rao pronounced his verdict. He sent a medical certificate saying he was suffering from back pain and sought exemption from personal appearance.

However, the former Karnataka chief minister's two sons -- BJP Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra and B Y Vijayendra -- and son-in-law R Sohan Kumar were granted conditional bail. The three were also accused in the cases.

Rao rejected the bail plea of S N Krishnaiah Shetty, who was minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet, and directed his arrest.

Yeddyurappa is the first accused in two cases of illegal land denotification for monetary gains.

The cases were filed by two Bangalore advocates Sirajin Bhasha and N K Balaraj in January this year after Governor H R Bhardwaj gave them sanction to launch criminal proceedings against Yeddyurappa and his kin for conspiring to denotify lands in and around Bangalore in return for monetary gains.

Yeddyurappa quit on July 31 after the then Lokayukta (ombudsman) N Santosh Hegde recommended his trial for graft in illegal land mining scam.