BENGALURU: The Special Court for CBI and ED Cases has refused to discharge Brajesh Kumar, then Deputy Superintendent of Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bengaluru, and his 73-year-old mother Laltha Singh, in a corruption case.
Brajesh Kumar, serving as DySP CBI (BS & FC), Bengaluru, while conducting an investigation into two cases registered in 2017 and 2019, came in contact with the accused No.3, Ganni Praveen Kumar, who has been already convicted.
He allegedly entered into a conspiracy with Praveen Kumar and an unknown official of the land developer for legal ratification of gift deeds and diversion of Rs 8.19 lakh from the parents to accounts held in his and his mother’s name.
Brajesh allegedly used the bribe to purchase a flat at Yelahanka in the name of his mother and in the name of his father for a sum of Rs 8.36 lakh and another flat in his name for Rs 9.52 lakh, which amounts to 90.5% of his official income. This is an offence under the provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The court observed that the charge against him by the prosecution (CBI & ED) is supported by material evidence, and that there is no material to discharge the accused.
CBI stated that ED had conducted a search in which the accused and their spouses had shared several bank accounts and paid Rs 8.19 lakh as white money and this was why the sale transaction of the land proposed to be sold by the landowner could not be materially assessed.
There is also an allegation about the alleged disproportionate assets of the accused, to be considered during the course of the trial and not at this stage.
The land records state the joint materials to frame the charge against Brajesh and his mother. There is material to prove that while one of the parents even owned a property in Patna and there was no will between the deceased father, elder son, and the very eldest son, they were cases on which the accused had dealt with accordingly.
He is alleged to have conspired to sell the property at Yelahanka without informing or obtaining the view of Jagapati and Jagannath.
The price executed for the sale of the said property was a sum of Rs 3.19 crore and a sum of Rs 41.08 lakh was received by the accused.
The sale was done in a manner of vague conversation where some broker spoke of a message sent on WhatsApp, a false case has been registered by the CBI and there is no specific charge on the sale elements, he added.
The CBI countered that there was no will and the land was jointly owned by the father of Brajesh. Therefore, it was not possible to prove that the property was his. The accused had entered into a conspiracy with the landowner and his own parents and tried to sell the property at the highest price.