Bangalore, Sep 15 (IANS) The Karnataka High Court Thursday granted anticipatory bail to former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in a corruption case related to a tender he approved in the Upper Bhadra irrigation project.


Justice L. Narayanaswamy ordered that the bail be granted to Yeddyurappa on furnishing a bond of Rs.1 lakh. He also directed the former chief minister not to leave the country and cooperate with investigating agencies.

Yeddyurappa sought anticipatory bail after the Lokayukta begun investigation into a complaint filed by Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) lawmaker Y.S.V. Datta.

It alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and his family members received Rs.13 crore from a private firm which was awarded the contract work despite being the higher bidder for the tender.

Yeddyurappa feared arrest as a division bench of the high court, comprising Justice K.L. Manjunath and Justice H.S. Kempanna Aug 26 rejected his plea to quash the first information report (FIR) filed by the Lokayukta police Aug 10 to begin probe in the case.

In his complaint, Datta alleged that the contract work in the project was awarded to RNS Jyothi for a whopping Rs.1,033 crore, contrary to the norm of granting the tender to the lowest bidder.

He alleged that the private firm had, in turn, rewarded Yeddyurappa and his family members by transferring Rs.13 crore to Dhavalgari Developers Ltd, owned by his sons B.Y. Vijayendra and B.Y. Raghavendra, and his son-in-law R. Sohan Kumar.

Lower court Judge N.K. Sudhindra Rao, which also functions as special Lokayukta court for speedy trial of graft cases, directed the ombudsman police to investigate the case.

Yeddyurappa resigned as the ruling BJP's first chief minister in south India July 31 after he was indicted by former state ombudsman Justice (retired) N. Santosh Hedge July 27 in the multi-crore mining scam in the state.

Raghavendra is the BJP's Lok Sabha member from Shimoga constituency.