Six months after a Koppal court passed strictures against Bangalore Lokayukta police for filing a ‘false’ case against the then DySP of Gangavati sub-division, the Lokayukta office has still not filed an appeal or taken action against its officials. The acquitted officer H T Krishnappa, who retired as SP in 2011, is now fighting for his lost reputation.
The complainant in the case, Palani Swamy, who passed away during the course of trial in 2009, was a rowdy-sheeter in Gangavati. He had lodged a complaint with the Bangalore Lokayukta police on July 4, 2007 against Krishnappa and others for allegedly demanding a bribe to settle a civil dispute.
While there was no evidence for demand of bribe, Bangalore Lokayukta police went to Gangavati on July 9 for a trap case but failed to recover the cash. The team, led by the then SP Rangaswamy Nayak, took Krishnappa to the Bangalore office and produced him before the magistrate.
“I had opened the rowdy-sheet against Palani Swamy when I was a sub-inspector during 1984-85. There was no demand and no recovery of alleged bribe amount. Besides, the criminal case filed in the background of a civil dispute was already chargesheeted. Still, the Lokayukta police brought me and two others to Bangalore and arrested me for ‘demanding and accepting bribe’.
“During the trial, I had produced 26 documents, all obtained under RTI, to prove that the whole case and the investigation thereafter was concocted. Even the statements of Panchas (two officials from KGID office in Bangalore) were concocted,” Krishnappa claimed.
The Lokayukta officials rope in at least two government officials to stand as Panchas during trap cases, one as a witness and the other as a shadow witness.
The defendant produced call details to show that the complainant was in touch with SP Rangaswamy Nayak even before filing the complaint. The documents also suggested that the Lokayukta police created a false statement of the complainant reportedly taken in Koppal in 2011, whereas he was battling for his life in a hospital in Bangalore at that time.
The Koppal court acquitted Krishnappa on April 19, 2013 and stated that it was up to the Lokayukta and KGID department to take action against their officials.
“It is not just the question of my acquittal, but the way Lokayukta police harass government officials. After my arrest, the Lokayukta police also took away `1.35 lakh cash which I had kept for my son’s marriage. SP Rangaswamy Nayak displayed a cassette in front of the media in Gangavati saying they have evidence for demanding bribe, while there is no mention of the demand in the panchanama. I was just two days away from my promotion as SP when they arrested me. My promotion got delayed for two years because of this case. I had filed an application before the court under Section 340 of CrPC to file criminal cases against the Lokayukta police even before the case was disposed of. Now, even after the court order, the Lokayukta officials say they are waiting for legal cell opinion to take action against officials,” Krishnappa said.
Lokayukta ADGP HNS Rao said a decision on action against officials will be taken after the legal cell scrutiny. “We are aware of the case and the legal cell is scrutinising the details. We will take a decision soon,” he said.