The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy to approach the Karnataka High Court with his grievance that an eviction notice was issued against him based on proceedings in which he is not a party..A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and SVN Bhatti observed that while Kumaraswamy had already challenged the eviction before the High Court, he was also entitled to bring to the Court’s attention that proceedings were being used to initiate action against him despite his deletion from the array of parties. “We appreciate the predicament in which the petitioner is placed. At one stage, he is deleted from contempt, then an eviction notice is issued,” Justice Bhatti remarked during the hearing..Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Kumaraswamy, described the situation as a “comedy of errors,” submitting that although the Lokayukta had closed the matter years ago, local authorities recently issued an eviction notice against him based on contempt proceedings. He contended that he had no role in the contempt petition and yet was now being made to face its consequences.“The order of eviction is based on the contempt…and suddenly after five years, I am issued an order of eviction. That’s why it’s a comedy of errors,” Rohatgi told the Court..Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the respondents in the case, said Kumaraswamy had challenged multiple orders—around 20 in total—and was primarily aggrieved by the show-cause notice issued for eviction. .The bench noted that the matter raised legal questions best considered by the High Court, and clarified that all issues were being left open for adjudication there.“Since the petitioner has already filed a writ petition before the High Court challenging the eviction, he is directed to pursue that remedy,” the Court said in its order, while formally disposing of the Special Leave Petition filed by Kumaraswamy. .Supreme Court refuses to quash corruption case against Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy.The case traces back to allegations made against Kumaraswamy and his associates, accusing them of illegally acquiring over 200 acres of government land, including 110 acres of pasture (gomala) land in Kethaganahalli near Bidadi. Acting on a direction from the Karnataka Lokayukta, the State government had formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the alleged encroachments.While Kumaraswamy has maintained that the 45 acres of land near Bidadi were lawfully purchased by him in 1985, he has alleged political targeting by the current Congress-led government.The Lokayukta had earlier directed the government to act against encroachments within 15 days. Though the matter was reportedly closed, proceedings later resumed, with contempt petitions against several government officers for not acting on the Lokayukta orders. Despite Kumaraswamy not being an arrayed party in the contempt proceedings, an eviction notice was issued to him by local authorities..[Read Live Coverage]
