The Karnataka High Court, in an order dated June 1, quashed a First Information Report (FIR) filed against former chief minister Yeddyurappa based on alleged denotification of land in an illegal manner by the Bangalore Development Authority. The FIR had been filed based on a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report and has been the subject of litigation for eight years. The order was passed by a single-judge bench consisting of Justice M Nagaprasanna. Yeddyurappa had moved the High Court seeking the removal of the FIR, arguing that the question of whether FIR could be registered based on a CAG report had previously been decided in a coordinated bench judgment of the High Court. The bench had noted in that case that, "The procedure contemplated . to invoke criminal law into motion being the first step for registration of a criminal case, inroading of the procedure laid down by rule of law is not at all permissible..Allowing the investigation to continue on these defective FIRs is by itself an abuse of process of law. These FIRs since not registered on information about a cognizable offence, in my considered opinion, it is not required to go further to the merit of the allegations made against the petitioner or the defence offered by him to the said allegation" The bench also noted that FIRs which did not disclose a cognisable offence in the form of "first information" would be liable to be quashed. Based on this, the bench held that the question at hand was decided in the previous case and quashed the FIR.
