Man posed as relative of former CM & yet govt does not want to probe Rs 200 cr corruption case: HC

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has expressed surprise that the government is not even prepared to investigate a corruption issue involving over Rs 200 crore. It expressed surprise that the matter has not been referred to the Lokayukta.

In this alleged crime, a person posing as a relative of a former chief minister demanded and received a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a contractor to get bills worth over Rs 200 crore cleared. “Interestingly, the State has not taken any steps in this regard by referring this matter to the Lokayukta for having committed an offence under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The State is not even prepared to investigate in this matter which requires a detailed and thorough investigation,” Justice Rajendra Badmikar said in his judgment in a petition filed by a Public Works Department (PWD) officer BD Rameshkumar seeking anticipatory bail in the case.

A case was registered at the Sadashivanagar police station earlier this year for cheating, criminal intimidation and conspiracy. The complainant, a contractor, had a bill of Rs 208.56 crore pending from the government. Rameshkumar allegedly promised to get the bill cleared, and the contractor was introduced to two other persons.

One of the persons thus introduced claimed to be a relative of a former chief minister. They asked for a payment of Rs 25 crore for getting the bill cleared. The contractor allegedly paid Rs 20 lakh twice to the three accused. The bill, however, was not cleared, and therefore he sought his money back. He was given bank cheques which were dishonored.

Thus he filed a complaint with the police. One of the three accused, BD Rameshkumar, approached the HC for anticipatory bail. “The allegations in the complaint disclose that the present petitioner has introduced the complainant to the other accused. Further, he was also present during the financial transaction of the loan. He is a public servant and is not supposed to indulge in any financial transaction but the records speak a different story,” the HC noted.

Then the HC expressed surprise that it was not willing to probe the issue further, as the allegation made was that Rs 25 crore was sought for clearing a bill of Rs 208.56 crore. On the issue of bail, the HC noted that the other two accused including the person who posed as a relative of a former CM was already granted bail.

Therefore the HC said, “I do not find any impediment for admitting the petitioner on bail as the offences alleged are not punishable with death or life of imprisonment and are triable by the learned Magistrate.” Rameshkumar was ordered to be released on bail in case of his arrest on a bond of Rs 2 lakh.