A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Bengaluru acquitted former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and others in connection with a Rs 40-crore case of bribery and corruption involving mining contracts, on Wednesday. "Justice is done, I stand vindicated...Thanks to all well wishers, friends and supporters who stood with me in my tough times," Yeddyurappa said on Twitter minutes after the judgment.

The other accused acquitted in the case are Yeddyurappa's two sons and son-in-law, JSW Steel and four Bellary-based affiliates of the company. "The prosecution was unsuccessful in establishing them guilty. Hence, all accused were acquitted, and their bail bonds stand cancelled," advocate CV Nagesh said.

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The CBI, in its chargesheet filed in 2012, had accused the state Bharatiya Janata Party president of accepting bribes from a mining firm in exchange for official favours to excavate iron ore in Bellary. The agency had alleged that in September 2010, JSW Steel affiliate South West Mining Company had deposited Rs 20 crore into the bank accounts of Yeddyurappa's sons BY Raghavendra and BY Vijendra and son-in-law Sohan Kumar.

The chargesheet had further claimed that JSW Steel affiliates had deposited another Rs 20 crore to Prerana Educational and Social Trust, which is run by Yeddyurappa's sons, allegedly to have their mining dues waived and pending mining lease applications expedited. Of this Rs 20-crore payment, Rs 6 crore was transferred to Swamy Vivekananda Vidya Samsthe, where Yeddyurappa was a trustee.

The CBI had also alleged that Yeddyurappa had misused his position as chief minister to illegally acquire a one-acre plot of government-notified land near Bengaluru, which he, his family members and a former associate later sold to JSW Steel affiliates for Rs 20 crore to cover up the trail of alleged bribe money. At the time, the plot cost Rs 5.22 crore, according to the chargesheet.