A Shimoga court today permitted authorities to shift former Karnataka minister Halappa from the McGann district hospital to the state-run Victoria Hospital in Bangalore for<br/>further treatment.<br/><br/>Halappa was hospitalised within hours of his arrest<br/>last week after he complained of chest pain.<br/><br/>Judicial Magistrate Ravikanth permitted authorities to shift Halappa to Victoria hospital as per the advice of McGann hospital's medical superintendent, Mahendrappa.<br/><br/>Halappa was arrested on the 9th of this month following a complaint by Chandravathi, wife of financier and his friend Venkatesh Murthy, that he had raped her.<br/><br/>Halappa quit the ministry after the rape charge surfaced but has denied the allegation saying it was a political conspiracy.