BENGALURU: In a significant setback to the Karnataka Lokayukta police, the special court for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act discharged the accused Prashanth Kumar MV aka Prashanth Madal, finance adviser and principal accountant of Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), and another accused Surendra S from charges of corruption.
The accused were booked and arrested by the Lokayukta police on March 2, 2023 after recovering Rs 40 lakh from the office of Unisquare Builders and Developers on Crescent Road. This was after Prashanth allegedly accepted a bribe to facilitate allotment of tenders, issuance of purchase orders and release of the bill amount to the complainant Shreyas Kashyap, partner of Chemixil Corporation, for supplying perfumery materials to the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd, for which his father, the then MLA Madal Virupakshappa, was the chairman.
“I am to hold that, there exists no grounds to frame the charge and proceed against accused persons for offences punishable under Section 7(A) and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act,” said Judge KM Radhakrishna on April 7, allowing the discharge applications filed by both the accused. The court said Rs 40 lakh should be confiscated to the state after the appeal period is over if the equal value is already indemnified by the state to the complainant.
Referring to Supreme Court and high court judgments, the special court said that if Prashanth’s acceptance of the tainted amount and its confirmation through Surendra is believed, this alone would not be the ground to follow the prosecution theory and presume the offence. Mere recovery of the amount in the absence of demand from the accused would not constitute an offence.
Surendra is the employee of Unisquare Builders but not of Prashanth as alleged in the chargesheet. Prashanth stated that the informant was in touch as he wanted to supply the perfumery to the gutkha business of Prashanth’s brother. He contended that Rs 40 lakh belongs to his brother. This possibility cannot be ruled out as the prosecution papers do not indicate any connection between the amount and the crime, it observed.