Karnataka Cabinet condemns prosecution sanction against CM; ‘Why should I resign’, says a defiant Siddaramaiah

“According to me, the Governor should resign. What is the offence I committed?” he asked, terming the sanction for prosecution granted as an “illegal conspiracy hatched by the Government of India.”

The Karnataka Cabinet has “unanimously expressed solidarity” against the illegal decision of the Governor to prosecute. “The Cabinet totally condemns it as there is no backing (for the prosecution sanction) under law and under the Constitution,” the CM said.

The Cabinet also condemned the Governor for “working as a representative of the Central government, which is unnecessarily trying to destabilise the state government by using the Governor”, Siddaramaiah told the news conference held after the Cabinet meeting.

He highlighted that the Governor was sitting on prosecution sanctions sought against Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, H D Kumaraswamy for alleged irregularities committed during his tenure as CM, and against former ministers Shashikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani and Janardhan Reddy. “When there were serious cases against these leaders, the Governor did not grant prosecution. In my case, the sanction was granted even before a preliminary investigation,” the CM said.

On whether the Karnataka government would file a complaint against the Governor with the President of India, Siddaramaiah said that the Cabinet has decided not to raise a complaint at the moment. A decision, he said, will be taken in the coming days in consultation with the Congress national leadership and INDIA bloc allies.

Apart from the sanction being “totally against the Constitution and totally illegal”, it went against the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Government of India for processing cases under Section 17(A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CM argued. Section 17(A) deals with investigation of offences related to recommendations made or decisions taken by public servants while discharging their official duties.

Siddaramaiah said the Opposition parties in Karnataka are under the illusion that such politically motivated cases will destabilise the government. This, he said, will not succeed as all Cabinet ministers, Congress MLAs and MLCs, and the party high command are backing him.

Following the meeting, Siddaramaiah met All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss the further course of action. According to Congress sources, Rajya Sabha MP and president of Supreme Court Bar Association Kapil Sibal and former MP Abhishek Singhvi will hold a meeting with Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders Sunday to discuss a legal recourse against the Governor’s decision.