New Delhi, March 24 A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court in the backdrop of Karnataka Minister for Cooperation K.N. Rajanna’s claim that political rivals tried to "honey trap him".
Senior Minister Rajanna, on the floor of the state Assembly, admitted that he had fallen victim to a honey trap, further claiming that over 48 politicians across Karnataka and the country had been trapped similarly.
On Monday, the matter was mentioned for urgent hearing before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, who assured the listing of PIL on March 25.
After Rajanna’s claim and the BJP's demand for an investigation into the issue, state Home Minister G. Parameshwara announced that a high-level probe would be conducted.
“This is a question of the honour of every member of this House. We must put an end to it,” Parameshwara emphasized.
“Minister Rajanna has stated that he will file a written complaint. Based on that, I will order a high-level inquiry. Let the truth come out. The facts must be known,” Parameshwara added.
The issue sparked a heated debate in the Legislative Assembly, leading to dramatic developments as members became emotional while discussing the matter.
BJP MLA N. Munirathna has alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar is behind the honey trap network in Karnataka.
MLA Munirathna said, "I want to give one piece of advice to Dy CM Shivakumar. I know your honey trap team. I know when you hold their meeting during the wee hours. You also have a family and should not resort to such cheap levels."
Meanwhile, the Karnataka BJP has slammed the Congress-led government’s move to suspend 18 of its MLAs, saying that the party MLAs were suspended for demanding justice in the alleged honey trap scandal.
Opposition Leader R. Ashoka alleged that when Minister Rajanna mentioned the honey trap scandal inside the Assembly, neither the Chief Minister nor other Congress ministers found it obscene and wrong.
“We have demanded a judicial inquiry to uphold the dignity of the Assembly. Even when it was stated that the honey trap scandal involved leaders from their own party, the government remained silent,” said Ashoka.
BJP state President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra has said that the decision of the Speaker to suspend 18 BJP MLAs is an anti-democratic move.
Vijayendra said, “The Speaker, who is in a position to protect these 224 MLAs, has instead thrown us out when we, as the opposition, stood up for justice. This is completely unacceptable.”
In a major development, 18 BJP MLAs were suspended for six months from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly with immediate effect, on charges of showing disrespect to the Speaker’s Chair on Friday (March 21).
The suspension came following the disruption of the proceedings while staging a protest in the Well of the House while demanding a judicial or CBI probe into the alleged honey trap attempt involving Minister for Cooperation K.N. Rajanna.
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