Was CBI acting under pressure, asks Congress on Yeddyurappa acquittal

New Delhi: Raising a question after the special CBI court acquitted former Karnataka chief minister and state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa and his sons in an illegal mining bribery case, the Congress party on Wednesday asked whether the CBI was acting under pressure.

Congress leader Tom Vadakkan told ANI that it was a very interesting court case as the amount involved was huge.

"Now did the CBI dilute the case or was it acting under pressure? These were questions that were acting on the public mind," he said.

Read: ‘I stand vindicated’: Yeddyurappa after acquittal in Rs 40 crore bribery case

"Legal options remained opened however, the BJP appointed him as BJP's state president despite the fact that the case was pending. Prophetic understanding probably by the BJP or was it part of the package deal remains to be seen," he added.

Yeddyurappa, his two sons, his son-in-law, steel major JSW Steel and four Bellary-based JSW Steel affiliates were cleared of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption charges.

The bribe, it is alleged, was paid for grant of official favours during Yeddyurappa's tenure as the chief minister between 2008 and 2011. In all, 216 witnesses were examined in the case.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet on October 16, 2012, accusing Yeddyurappa and 12 others of corruption after investigations purportedly revealed that Rs. 20 crore was deposited in personal bank accounts of the Karnataka strongman's sons BY Raghavendra (now a BJP MLA) and BY Vijendra, and his son-in-law Sohan Kumar between August and September 2010.