The petition filed by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in Karnataka High Court, to quash a case filed against him in the Lokayuktha court, was adjourned till Wednesday for further hearing. He has appealed against the private complaint filed in the Lokayukta court by a social activist T J Abraham who has alleged that during the tenure as Chief Minister of Karnataka, S M Krishna allowed mining by de-reserving forest land to benefit his son-in-law.

Former Chief Minister and sitting MPs, Dharam Singh and H D Kumarswamy are co-accused in the case. The respondent in this case T J Abhraham will file his objection against the petition on Wednesday.

The senior counsel appearing for S M Krishna argued today that Lokayuktha report on illegal mining, based on which the private complaint is filed in lower court, has not made any reference or seeks prosecution against S M Krishna. He said de-reservation of forest land for mining purpose was a cabinet decision based on the advise of officials and allotment of mining lease on this land was done after 2005 when S M Krishna was no longer Chief Minister.

He argued that need does not arise to proceed against his client, as the Lokayuktha investigation has made no charges against the External Affairs minister in its report filed in July last year by the then Lokayuktha Justice Santosh Hegde.