HDK, wife get two-day reprieve

BANGALORE: The Lokayukta Special Court on Monday exempted former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his MLA wife Anita Kumaraswamy for two more days and asked them to be present in the Court on September 7.The Court, which was hearing the cases of illegalities, under the Prevention of Corruption Act about Kumaraswamy granting mining lease to Jantakkal Mining Company and allotting bulk land to Vishwabharathi Co-operative Society and the society in-turn allotting a site to his wife Anita.The three accused in this case, including the Managing Director of Jantakkal Mining Company, Vinod Goel were summoned to the Court on August 30. However, on that day, their counsel Azmath Pasha had sought exemption on the grounds of their health. Judge Sudheendra Rao had then exempted them and asked the accused to be present in the Court on September 5.However, Kumaraswamy and Anita did not present themselves before the Court on Monday and their counsel, Pasha requested the Court to exempt them for few more days on health grounds and mentioned that they have approached the High Court to avail anticipatory bail. Meanwhile, Judge Sudheendra Rao observed that the accused were in the Court custody. But,the counsel for the accused, Pasha, argued that the Court can not consider the accused to be in its custody, since a private complaint was lodged against the accused with a malafide intention of tarnishing their image.