BENGALURU: Since there is a question of maintainability to be adjudicated with respect to the locus standi of the ED to file a protest petition against the closure report of the Lokayukta police in the MUDA case involving CM Siddaramaiah, his wife and others, the special court to try criminal cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs adjourned its hearing to April 8.
Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat adjourned the hearing after advocate Madhukar Deshpande filed an application on behalf of ED, seeking the court’s permission to file the protest petition against the ‘B’ final report (closure report) filed by the Lokayukta police.
Deshpande submitted that as per the provisions of Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, ED is empowered to share information relevant to the case. He argued that though ED shared the information with the Lokayukta police, it was not appreciated. Under such circumstances, though ED is not trying to equate on par with the status of the complainant, Snehamayi Krishna, still it is empowered to file the protest petition to bring to the court’s notice the factual aspects concerning the information involved, he said, referring to various proclamations of the apex court and also the judgment by a division bench of the High Court of Madras in support of his arguments.
Representing the Lokayukta, special public prosecutor (SPP) Venkatesh Arabatti requested the court for short accommodation to clarify. Hence, the order on the protest petition of the complainant was deferred by the special court, which adjourned the hearing to April 8.