Congress seeks Karnataka minister's sacking after SC refuses to stay FIR

The Congress Tuesday demanded the sacking of BJP minister S T Somshekhar in Karnataka after the Supreme Court rejected his plea to stay an FIR in a Rs 12-crore bribery case.

Congress general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala asked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai when he will sack the minister of state for co-operation.

Somshekhar was elected from the Yeshvanthapura assembly seat in 2018 on a Congress ticket, but later defected and won the by-election in 2019 as a BJP candidate.

"The Chronology -- Bribery of Rs 12 Crore alleged in a BDA Contract. Lokayukta Police orders an FIR against Minister S.T.Somshekhar and others on Sept 18, 2022. SC declines the plea to stay FIR. Mr @BSBommai, when will u sack him?," Surjewala asked on Twitter, using the hashtag "#40PercentSarkara".

The Supreme Court Monday refused to consider separate pleas by Somashekar, IAS officer G C Prakash and businessman K Ravi against lodging of a corruption case pertaining to a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) construction project.

The court had earlier stayed the probe against former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in connection with the FIR.

The case relates to bribe charges to award a BDA contract to a construction firm to build a housing complex when the BJP's Yediyurappa was chief minister.