Cong denies U-turn: It’s up to HC, Uma

The government had told the high court on Monday that it was ready to abide by a 2002 Cabinet decision and drop all cases against the former Madhya Pradesh CM.

But Singh, in a bout of legal hairsplitting, argued that his government was never in the driver’s seat, had never sought to reopen the decade-old case, and that the matter was between the court and Bharati.

‘‘We abide by the decision of the then government headed by S.M. Krishna,’’ he stressed, referring to his predecessor’s move to withdraw all cases filed against Bharati, accused of instigating violence in Hubli on August 15, 1994 over the hoisting of the Tricolour at Idgah Maidan.

Singh told the media that his government had never filed a petition seeking revision of the earlier government’s decision. The court, while agreeing to quash nine of the 10 cases filed against Bharati, had refused to give its assent in one case related to attempt to murder. ‘‘Abiding by the 2002 Cabinet decision and keeping public safety in mind, we never wanted to reopen the case,’’ the CM said.

‘‘It is up to the JMFC (in Hubli) and the accused (Uma). Hence, the question of withdrawing the prosecution again, as being demanded by the BJP, did not arise,’’ he said.

Singh cited Saturday’s HC decision while disposing a PIL. ‘‘It was up to Uma to take appropriate steps for seeking necessary relief from the court. The HC has itself observed that Uma’s counsel had undertaken to file a petition under Section 482 of CrPC, seeking quashing of the proceedings before the JMFC in Hubli,’’ he said.

‘‘Though the sessions court had made it compulsory (for the government) to file a fresh application for withdrawal of prosecution, the HC on Saturday had waived this requirement,’’ Singh said. ‘‘This,’’ he claimed, ‘‘…vindicates the state government’s stand that there is no question of any fresh withdrawal of the prosecution.’’

Dharam pacifies JD(S) MLAs, govt safe
BANGALORE: It took two hours for Chief Minister Dharam Singh to assuage disgruntled JD(S) MLAs who had threatened to withdraw support to his government if their demands were not met. The MLAs, who were agitating till Sunday, said after the meeting that Singh had assured them he would consider their demands. This includes Cabinet expansion at the earliest, appointments to boards and corporations, transfers, and amendments to the Panchayati Raj Act. Former CM H.D. Deve Gowda’s son, H.D. Kumaraswamy, who had led the revolt, said: ‘‘We were only concerned with the stalling of development works,’’ he said.