Karnataka honey trap row: "Political nonsesne" SC declines PIL for CBI probe into allegations

New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking independent probe by CBI or SIT into the alleged honeytrapping of legislators, public servants and judges in Karnataka.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta declined the plea calling it "political nonsense".
"You are a resident of Jharkhand. Why are you bothering about what is happening in that state? They are competent enough to take care of this," Justice Nath told advocate Barun Sinha who was representing the petitioner.
When the advocate said allegations surrounding the honey-trap case were serious and a judicial inquiry is required, the bench said, "Why should you fall into honey-trap. If you fall into honey-trap, they are inviting trouble for yourself."
When the lawyer said there are allegations judges are also involved in honey-trap, Justice Nath replied, "Forget about judges, they will take care of themselves."
The plea filed by a Jharkhand resident, Binay Kumar Singh, sought independent probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising of police officers who are not subject to control or influence of the State of Karnataka.
Last week, cooperation minister KN Rajanna alleged that 48 people have fallen victim to "honey traps" in the state and their obscene videos have been circulated. The Congress MLA claimed that the list was across party lines, including state and national leaders.
The petition said "there were very serious and troubling allegations made on the floor of the Karnataka state legislature that a person aspiring to be the Chief Minister of the state has been successful in honey trapping several persons, amongst whom are judges. The allegations have been made by a sitting minister who has claimed himself to be a victim, thereby lending credibility to the serious allegations."
"Not only that, another minister of the government has not only echoed the allegations made by the first minister, rather alleged that the scale and proportion of the scandal is at least ten times than what is currently visible," it added.
It further said that judges getting compromised by means like honey trapping poses serious threat to judicial independence and gravely undermines public confidence in the institution. (ANI)