BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Saturday asked the State whether the money spent by the IMA Group on building a government school can be returned or the school building attached. “Prima facie, we are of the view that investors’ money cannot be diverted for building a school owned by the government,” the court said.
A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj made the observation after the Special Officer and Competent Authority in the IMA case, Harsh Gupta, wrote a letter to the government for refunding of Rs 12.82 crore spent by IMA Group for development of infrastructure at V K Obaidullah Government School in Shivajinagar, to save it from attachment. Gupta said the money can be used for settlement of a large number of claims.
The court also noted that the very purpose of the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments (KPID) Act will be defeated if the government sticks to its stand of waiting till the CBI submits its final report, for attachment of properties owned by former minister R Roshan Baig.
The government completely ignored the power under the Act to attach properties and it has not considered a question whether any properties have been acquired by him out of depositors’ money, the court added, while asking the state to re-examine its stand.
CBI to go on appeal in Nimbalkar case
The CBI’s counsel informed the court that the agency will challenge the High Court orders quashing cases against IPS officer Hemanth Nimbalkar in the IMA scam, before the Supreme Court. The CBI will complete the investigation by the end of this month, he told the court.