A Special Court for Elected Representatives pronounced the verdict convicting Karnataka lawmaker in eight cheque bounce cases.
Karnataka BJP lawmaker MP Kumaraswamy. (mp.kumaraswamy/Facebook)
In a rude shock to MP Kumaraswamy, the Mudigere constituency’s sitting BJP MLA, a Bengaluru court on Monday, 13 February, found him guilty in several cheque-bounce cases.
The Special Court for the Elected Representatives, which was hearing eight cheque-bounce cases against the Karnataka Assembly member, sentenced him to a jail term of six months in each case.
The MLA thus has to spend four years in jail if he fails to pay back the money in a stipulated time frame.
Huvappagowda, a complainant and friend of the Mudigere MLA, told reporters: “I had given an interest-free loan of ₹1.66 crores to Kumaraswamy between 2016 and 2017. Before the 2018 Assembly polls, he gave three separate cheques — one was of ₹85 lakh, another was ₹80 lakh, and the third was of ₹1.7 lakh.”
He added: “Kumaraswamy said that all the accounts had been settled. When I tried to encash the cheques, they bounced. I served a legal notice to him through my advocate in 2018.”
Huvappagowda elaborated: “He requested me not to pursue the case further and promised to repay the amount at the earliest. However, he returned ₹1.4 crore and the remaining ₹24.7 lakh was due. Then, he requested for another ₹1 crore with the assurance of clearing all the loans soon after the Assembly polls.”
He further said: “I refused to give the money, but he forced me to give him the money. I gave another ₹68 lakh to him. There was a pending amount of ₹24.7 lakh. With this, I had lent ₹94.70 lakh to Kumaraswamy.”
Huvappagowda continued: “When I insisted on an initial agreement, he along with his driver took me to the Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple and promised to return the money in time. I withdrew all the cases on him.”
He added: “In 2019, he gave me eight cheques. I had put these cheques to encash in February 2020 and all of them bounced. Then, he kept on making fake assurances of repaying the loan, but never returned a single penny.”
Huvappagowda said he then sent another legal notice to the legislator.
Then, when he approached a Chikkamagaluru court, they transferred the case to Bengaluru’s Peoples Representative Court, reasoning that he was an elected representative.
“I had no ill intentions against the MLA. I only wanted him to return my money,” said Huvappagowda.
“I had financially assisted him only because he was a good friend of mine. Now, the court has served justice on the matter,” he added.
“I am not bothered about whether he will go to jail or not. All I want him to do is settle my account,” said Huvappagowda.
When South First tried to contact Kumaraswamy over the phone, he was out of reach.
May 02, 2024
May 02, 2024
May 02, 2024
May 02, 2024
May 02, 2024
May 02, 2024
