A political slugfest erupted today over grant of sanction by Governor H R Bhardwaj to prosecute Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa with Congress saying it was in accordance with law and BJP alleging he was working under Congress directives. Alleging that Bharadwaj was a "Congress agent",BJP also accused him of trying to destabilise the party's first ever government in the South and demanded his immediate recall. Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram in a signed statement,said "It is not the first time that a Governor has given his sanction to prosecute a chief minister or a minister of the state government. The law in this respect is clear and well-settled." He said the Centre has taken note of the developments in Karnataka and he was not going into the merits of the complaints that were before the Governor in respect of which he has granted sanction for prosecution of the Chief Minister. "The purpose of this statement is to set out the constitutional and legal position," he said. Chidambaram's statements came against the backdrop of BJP hitting back at the Governor calling his decision constitutionally improper and politically motivated. The Home Minister said he would draw BJP's attention to the statement made by Justice (Retd) Santosh Hegde,Lokayukta of Karnataka,who has observed that the Governor had the jurisdiction to grant sanction for prosecution. Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said the Governor had full authority to sanction prosecution of the Chief Minister,who is not above the law and does not enjoy immunity. "Everyone is equal before law..the Chief Minister does not enjoy immunity (from prosecution). Everything is on record about corruption and nepotism (of Yeddyurappa government) and even BJP had asked him to quit," Moily told reporters in Mumbai. BJP President Nitin Gadkari,who is now on a visit to Beijing,alleged the Governor's decision was politically motivated and he was working under the directives of Congress. BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy alleged that Bhardwaj having failed in his attempt to get President's Rule imposed in Karnataka in October 2010 his political agenda now is to destabilise the state government. Alleging that Bharadwaj was behaving like a 'Congress agent',another party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said "The Governor's activities are politically motivated. They are unconstitutional." Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley rubbished contentions of Chidambaram and Karnataka Lokayukta on Yeddyurappa's prosecution,saying that as per legal precedents the Governor should have waited for the ongoing investigations to be completed. "What the Home Minister has ignored is the explicit observation of Supreme Court that even though the Governor can act independent of the decision of the Council of Ministers and act in his own discretion,yet the issue of sanction has first to be considered by the Council of Ministers," the senior BJP leader said.
