Lokayukta: Nix BJP MLA’s hasty pre-arrest bail, Karnataka Lokayukta tells Supreme Court | India News

NEW DELHI: Karnataka Lokayukta on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court for cancellation of anticipatory bail to BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa to enable its police to interrogate him in custody in a bribery case and said the HC’s hasty decision to shield the accused from arrest “sent a wrong signal” to the public in a high-profile corruption case.
For the Lokayukta, senior advocate Basava Prabhu Patil told a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha that the MLA was absconding till the HC granted him pre-arrest bail in a case of brazen corruption — payment of 30% commission for approval of tender for supply of chemical oil to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd, of which Virupakshappa is the chairman.
Patil sought urgent hearing on the petition and assailed the HC’s decision to grant protection from arrest to the accused MLA while refusing opportunity to the Lokayukta counsel to seek instructions and respond to Virupakshappa’s plea. He was able to persuade the CJI-led bench for urgent listing and was permitted to mention it before a bench headed by Justice Sanjay K Kaul. But Justice Kaul posted the petition on Wednesday.

The Lokayukta said, “The accused MLA, who is chairman of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd, can potentially influence the witnesses, tamper evidence and obstruct investigation, if his arrest and custodial interrogation is denied.” It said the HC’s decision to grant relief to Virupakshappa was at the teeth of the SC’s 2019 ruling in P Chidambaram’s case.
In the Chidambaram case, the SC said, “Grant of anticipatory bail …may frustrate the investigating agency… Success in such interrogation would elude if the accused knows that he is protected by the order of the court. Grant of anticipatory bail, particularly in economic offences, would hamper the effective investigation.”
The Lokayukta narrated details of the March 2 trap-raid, in which the MLA’s son, Prashanth Madal, was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh by Lokayukta police. In the subsequent searches, the Lokayukta police had seized Rs 1.62 crore from Madal’s office and an additional Rs 6.1 crore from his residence. Four days after the seizures, the absconding accused MLA moved the HC for anticipatory bail. On March 7, the HC granted pre-arrest bail to the MLA without allowing the Lokayukta counsel to take instructions from the authorities to file objections to the plea.