Court stays FIR against Krishna

In a relief to external affairs minister SM Krishna, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed an FIR filed by the Lokayukta Police against him on a private complaint accusing him of facilitating illegal mining during his tenure as chief minister of Karnataka. Krishna said the Karnataka High Court order justified the stand of Lokayukta Santosh Hedge,  who  had said in his judgment that "I was not involved in any mining scam". Passing the interim order on a petition by Krishna, Justice BV Pinto also directed the respondent TJ Abraham, on whose complaint the FIR was registered, to file objections by January 6.

The Lokayukta Police on December 8 had registered the FIR against Krishna and two other former chief ministers N Dharam Singh and HD Kumaraswamy, besides 11 officials.

Subsequently, Krishna had moved the high court on December 9 seeking quashing of the private complaint and the FIR. Reacting to the order, Krishna said on Thursday "truth has prevailed".

"I had not issued any mining license and I was not in-charge of the mining ministry when I was the chief minister," Krishna said. Krishna's counsel Uday Lalit contended that the allegations made in the private complaint did not constitute an offence prima facie as they were based on the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.

The court also granted an interim stay on an FIR registered against former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.