Bail granted to accused in CM office job-scam

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: The main accused in the job scam perpetuated in the name of the chief minister’s office staff has been granted bail by the Karnataka High Court. The HC noted that the accused Pradeep R had not received the alleged bribe amount but it was his brother-inlaw Arunkumar who received it.

Pradeep R is a resident of Kattalagere village in Channagiri in Davangere district. Nagarathnamma KG was his family friend. Pradeep allegedly told her that his wife’s brother, Arunkumar KH, worked in the chief minister’s office as a special officer to the CM and he was on the verge of becoming a member of the Karnataka Public Service Commission.

He also convinced her that he had helped many people secure a government job after paying money. Nagarathnamma was promised a government job and asked her to pay for it. Arunkumar also called Nagarathnamma on the phone and assured her a government job. Believing the two, she deposited a sum of Rs.7,50,000 in the ICICI bank account of Arunkumar on January 7, 2020.

Later on January 9, 2020, she deposited a sum of Rs.5,00,000 in the same account. Further on January 17, she deposited a sum of Rs.2,50,000. After a long time, Pradeep and Arunkumar informed Nagarathnamma that her job application was under consideration and the process of verification was underway. When Nagarathnamma realised it was a scam, she filed a complaint at the KTJ Nagar Police Station.

Pradeep and Arunkumar were accused numbers one and two while one Shailaja was accused number three. They were charged under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Pradeep and Shailaja applied for bail before the Sessions Court in Davangere. On March 13, 2023, Shailaja was granted bail while the plea of Pradeep was rejected. Pradeep approached the HC and his petition was heard by Justice G Basavaraju.

The HC in its judgement noted, “A perusal of the complaint averments it is crystal clear that the present accused No.1-Pradeep R., has not received any amount from the complainant. Accused No.2- Arunkumar has received an amount of Rs.15,00,000 through Bank Account. Accused No.3 has already obtained anticipatory bail. The alleged offences are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. Considering the nature and gravity of the offences and role of accused No.1-Pradeep R., it is just and proper to allow the bail application.”

Pradeep was ordered to execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.50,00,000 with one surety. He was ordered to cooperate with the Investigation Officer and not to directly or indirectly threaten the prosecution witnesses.

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