Congress candidate for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat VS Ugrappa has landed in trouble. The 4th Additional District Court in Doddaballapura has issued an order asking him to pay up in an eight year old accident case on which the verdict was reached last year, failing which his family heirlooms will be confiscated. The court’s order comes in the wake of Ugrappa reportedly disregarding the 2017 ruling.
On August 8, 2010, a shop owner and resident of Chikkasandra – Balaji, who was travelling in a Bajaj scooter, was hit by a Toyota Qualis car from behind on the Yelahanka-Doddaballapura Road. The Toyota car was registered to Congress leader Ugrappa. Balaji sustained grievous injuries and his scooter was rendered irreparable. In 2012, Balaji had approached the court, seeking compensation for the same from Ugrappa.
On October 31, 2017, the 4th Additional District Court in Doddaballapura had ordered Ugrappa to pay Balaji a sum of Rs 67,500. A year after the court had issued its order, Ugrappa had not paid Balaji yet.
On Friday, the court heard Balaji’s petition, and has now ordered Ugrappa to pay Balaji a sum of Rs 67,500 along with interest for a period of one year. Ugrappa now has to pay a compensation of Rs 94,927 before November 12. The court has ordered the confiscation of all family heirlooms belonging to Ugrappa if the order is violated.
This order comes just a day after the Congress candidate was mired in another controversy. On Thursday, a woman from Ballari accused Ugrappa of trying to persuade her into withdrawing a sexual assault case she had registered in 2015.
According to the woman, her 11-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by her brother-in-law. A case was registered and the chargesheet had been filed in the case. Speaking to the media on Thursday, the woman said that Ugrappa had urged her to withdraw the complaint.
“The accused is in jail, and has been refused bail nine times. As there was too much pressure on us to withdraw the case initially, I had approached Ugrappa sir for help. He was the chairman of the Legislative subcommittee for Prevention of Atrocities against Women and Children. In 2017, he called me one day and demanded that I withdraw the case. He said I should forget about everything," the woman said.
She also said that her son was assaulted by local goons thrice this year due to the mounting pressure and that Ugrappa did not help her when she approached him.
However, Ugrappa has denied the allegations made by the woman and said that the BJP was trying to set him up. “It is true that I was the chairman of the subcommittee but I did not ask anyone to withdraw a complaint in a POCSO case. The BJP is trying to malign my name since the elections are approaching,” Ugrappa said.