The High Court of Karnataka has quashed criminal proceedings and probe against three retired IAS officers, initiated by a special court on a private complaint, in which it was alleged that six officers of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department had caused loss of ₹269 crore to the exchequer due to misappropriation of funds during 2009-15.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order on the petitions filed by retired IAS officers and former principal secretaries of the RDPR Department Amita Prasad and T.M. Vijay Bhaskar (who is also former Chief Secretary), and E.V. Ramana Reddy, who retired recently after serving as Additional Chief Secretary. The three officers had served in the RDPR Department during 2011-15.
The High Court said the special court could not have taken cognisance in the absence of sanction from the competent authority for proceeding against them. However, the High Court has kept open the issue of grant of sanction.
Complaint
A special court for cases of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Bengaluru, had in January 2022 taken cognisance of the complaint and ordered an investigation against them to ascertain the allegations made against them in a complaint lodged by S. Narayanaswamy, a social worker from Kolar district.
The petitioner-officers were not arraigned as accused either in the two first information reports registered earlier on the complaints of misappropriation filed by the department or in the chargesheet filed against six other officers, the High Court said while pointing out that the complainant had levelled allegations against the petitioner-officers in the private complaint lodged before the special court.
