In a major setback to BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok, the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by him questioning the legality of registering an FIR against him and seven others in a corruption case.
The case relates to alleged illegality and abuse of office as the chairman of a committee on regularisation of lands under unauthorised occupations of government lands during 1998-2007. The court also vacated the interim order granted in January restraining the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from conducting the investigation till the petitions filed by Mr. Ashok and other accused are adjudicated. The court also dismissed petitions filed by seven other accused persons.
“In view of the serious allegations made in the complaint against the accused and on perusing the entire material, I’m of the opinion that it is too early for the court to quash the proceedings,” said Justice Budihal R.B. in his order while observing that “...looking at the FIR, it is not a case filed to abuse the process of the court and it cannot be said that there is no prima facie case.” Though there is some delay in registration of case, the court said that the allegations are serious in nature.
On the contention raised on behalf of Mr. Ashok that he and the committee cannot be held responsible for any irregularities as they were “misguided” by the Revenue Department in processing the applications received for regularisation, the court said that such an argument cannot be accepted at this stage as it was duty cast upon the committee, set up based on a statute, to verify the documents submitted before it and ascertain the eligibility for regularisation of unauthorised occupation of land as per the law.
The FIR cannot be quashed merely because persons from the Congress, who were also members of the regularisation committee, were not arraigned as accused, the court said while pointing out that it is the discretion of the investigation officer to array a person as an accused based on material and probe.
The allegations are that the several beneficiaries of regularisation, made by the Committee of Bangalore South Taluk, headed by Mr. Ashok during 1998-2007, were persons known to him and several of them were not eligible to take benefit of regularisation as per the law. One of the applicants in whose favour regularisation was made was only four years old at the time of submitting application, it was alleged by the ACB.