Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court came down hard on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders for holding protests demanding the arrest of the then Minister K.S. Eshwarappa over the contractor Santhosh Patil suicide case in Bengaluru in April 2022.

Hearing the case recently, the Court imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on the CM, his Cabinet colleagues M.B. Patil (Minister of Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development) and Ramalinga Reddy (Transport Minister) as well as senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, summoning them before the people’s representatives’ court.

The Court summoned CM Siddaramaiah on Mar. 6, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Mar. 7, Congress Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Mar. 11 and M.B. Patil on Mar. 15.

The Congress leaders had staged a demonstration inside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, demanding Eshwarappa’s immediate arrest after the former Minister was linked to Santhosh Patil’s death. They had allegedly also marched illegally towards former CM Basavaraj Bommai’s official residence, seeking Eshwarappa’s resignation from his post.

In this light, a single judge bench of the Karnataka High Court, consisting of Justice Krishna Dixit, dismissed a petition filed by CM Siddaramaiah and others seeking to quash the criminal case lodged against them.

Civil works contractor Patil was found dead in a lodge in Udupi in April 2022. He had accused Eshwarappa of corruption, alleging that he demands 40 per cent commission on each contract. Eshwarappa was in charge of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department and had resigned after the row over his alleged involvement in the contractor’s death.