Shivamogga, 4 Sept

Veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday sought to nudge Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to resign from the post "respectfully", before the court delivers its verdict on the Governor granting permission to prosecute him in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment issue.

The former Chief Minister claimed that Siddaramaiah would face a situation to resign after the court verdict.

"After the court verdict, a situation will come for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to resign one hundred per cent. I advise him to respectfully resign before the court verdict comes. As all the scams he is involved in are proved, there is no chance for him to escape. Let's see what happens," Yediyurappa said.

"There is no need for any more fight, things in a way have reached a final stage, and naturally a situation will come for him (CM) to resign," he told reporters here.

The Karnataka High Court on Monday extended till September nine the interim stay on trial court proceedings against the Chief Minister in the MUDA case.

The Court adjourned for a week the hearing on Siddaramaiah's petition challenging the legality of Governor Thaawarchand's sanction for his prosecution in the case.

The Governor on August 16 accorded sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for the commission of the alleged offences as mentioned in the petitions submitted to him by Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna.

On August 19, Siddaramaiah moved the High Court challenging the legality of the Governor's order.

On the possibility of the Cabinet on Thursday deciding to book a criminal case based on retired Karnataka High Court Justice John Michael D'Cunha-headed inquiry commission report on alleged irregularities in Covid-19 management when the BJP was in power, Yediyurappa said: "there is no meaning to it. They are free to make any decision. We will face it, within the framework of law."-PTI