Reddy brothers refuse to appear in Karnataka governor’s court

The spat between the Reddy brothers and governor HR Bhardwaj is showing no signs of thawing. Tourism minister Janardhana Reddy and revenue minister Karunakara Reddy are unlikely to turn up before the governor on Thursday to present their case in the hearing on the complaint about disproportionate assets.

Summons has been issued to the Reddy brothers asking them to appear before the governor on June 3. But, according to their lawyers, they are unlikely to turn up. “The Reddy brothers will not appear before the governor,” their counsel Ravishankar told DNA.
“Instead, I will go and explain their stand on the issue to the governor.”

In November 2009, Congress leader Kondaiah and several others had complained to the governor that the Reddy brothers and health minister B Sriramulu had encroached upon forest area for mining and had amassed, through illegal means, assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Based on the complaint, the governor had issued show-cause
notices to Janardhana Reddy, Karunakara Reddy and Sriramulu. They were asked to reply about the allegations levelled against them. But the Reddy brothers filed objections through their lawyer.

Not satisfied with the reply, the governor ordered that summons be issued to the Reddy brothers directing them to appear before him, either personally or through advocates. On May 10, their advocate Ravishankar appeared before the governor. The governor then adjourned the matter to June 3.

Last month, Janardhana Reddy came down heavily on the governor’s conduct.  “The governor has no right to conduct legal hearing and Raj Bhavan is not a court,” he ha said. “He (the governor) is crossing his limits.”

Reacting to the tourism minister’s comments, the governor had said: “If the Reddy brothers fail to give correct reply, I will recommend to the Election Commission that they be disqualified.”

He had said that he knew law very well since he had been a lawyer for 50 years. “I have not crossed the limits. Prima facie, I found some stuff in the complaint, that’s why I issued summons.”

Even the intervention of chief minister BS Yeddyurappa seems to have failed to resolve the issue. As the clash raged, leaders of the Congress and Janata Dal(S) met the governor separately and submitted more details against the Reddy brothers.