BENGALURU: The special court to try criminal cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the manner in which the Lokayukta police sought adjournment of hearing in the MUDA case.
The Lokayukta police were supposed to file a conclusive report the same day on the further investigation done to unearth the alleged role of former commissioners of MUDA in the illegal allotment of sites.
On April 15, the special court kept its decision pending on accepting or rejecting the ‘B’ report (closure report) by the Lokayukta police, giving a clean chit to CM Siddaramaiah and his family members in the MUDA case. However, the Lokayukta police were permitted to conduct further investigation into the role of other accused and file a conclusive report on or before May 7, when the hearing was to be held.
Instead of filing the report, the Lokayukta police, however, urged the court to adjourn the hearing. “The investigation officer is present and has filed a requisition requesting time to conclude the investigation on the premises that they have sought for necessary sanction under Section 17(A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Though the requisition is furnished by the IO along with a document in a sealed cover, the court is not happy with the manner in which adjournment is sought”, said Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat of the special court. Complainant Snehamayi Krishna, who was present, strongly objected to granting adjournment by submitting that permission was obtained against accused No 5 DB Natesh, former commissioner of MUDA, and the investigating agency is unnecessarily dragging the proceedings.
Krishna filed a requisition under Section 200 of CrPC, requesting the special court to pass orders on the ‘B’ report (closure report) filed by the Lokayukta police concerning allegations against accused Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy BM, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju J.
Taking Krishna’s request on record, the judge said as already indicated by this court, it would be appropriate to consider the B-report once the conclusive investigation is completed. The court has taken note of the apprehension of the complainant that the proceedings are being delayed.
However, to meet the ends of justice, the hearing has to be adjourned, granting an opportunity to the investigating agency, the court said. It adjourned the hearing to May 29.
Admitting that the MUDA had incurred losses because of allotment of sites to Parvathy illegally, the Lokayukta police stated that permission is needed under Section 173 (8) of CrPC to conduct further probe to quantify the total loss caused by the then MUDA commissioner DB Natesh, his predecessors and successors between 2016 and 2024.
Accepting the request of the Lokayukta police, the special court on April 15 said that the probe outcome should be considered along with the report already filed. It would be appropriate to accept or reject the ‘B’ report based on further investigation’s report, if any, to be filed, the court said.