HUBBALLI: In a major embarrassment for ministers Vinay Kulkarni and Santosh Lad, Supreme Court judge Justice Mohan Shantangoudar threatened to stay away if these ministers arrived to share the dais with him at an event organized to mark the centenary of Karnatak College, Dharwad (KCD), on Saturday.
The upshot: both ministers skipped the function.
In his address, Mr Justice Shantangoudar listed the names of other dignitaries, including Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister H. K. Patil and higher education minister Basavaraj Rayareddi, but omitted those of Mr Santosh Lad and Mr Vinay Kulkarni.
Official sources said that when Mr Rayareddi went to invite the judge for the programme, he was told by the latter that he would not share the dais with both ministers as cases were under investigation against them.
In his address, however, Mr Rayareddi maintained that the two ministers decided to skip the function on their own.
Reacting to the incident, Mr Vinay Kulkarni stated that he was not feeling well since last night and therefore could not attend the programme on Saturday.
