Case against three IAS officers quashed for lack of sanction

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has quashed a criminal case against three IAS officers, including the Additional Chief Secretary of the Commerce and Industries Department Dr EV Ramana Reddy.

The other two are now retired officer Amita Prasad and TM Vijaya Bhaskar. The single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna said that in the absence of sanction to prosecute them, the case filed by the then Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) pending before the Special Court for corruption cases was not sustainable.

The three officers were the Principal Secretaries of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in various tenures between 2011 and 2015.

During this period a tripartite agreement was signed between the Department of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, Government of India, State Water and Sanitation Mission and the then Syndicate Bank. The project initiated was the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and Sanitation Mission.

In May 2015 the Commissioner of the Programme alleged certain mismanagement of funds in the scheme. The audit report indicted one P Bore Gowda and Ramakrishna for the mismanagement and loss to the Government.

The IAS officers were not mentioned. Three cases were registered in 2015, 2017 and 2021 against the accused in the alleged crime. But in none of them the IAS officers were charged.

However based on a private compliant by one S Narayanswamy, the Trial Court ordered for investigation by the ACB. The Special Court then took cognizance against the three IAS officers in an order dated January 12, 2022.

This was challenged by them in the High Court. Quashing the criminal case the HC ruled, “It is an admitted fact that there is no sanction in the case at hand placed before the concerned Court for it to take cognizance of the offence. Therefore, on this ground alone, the order taking cognizance and directing enquiry to be conducted would tumble down. (WP 10068/2022)