BENGALURU: The judge of the Special Court for Lokayukta Cases, K M Radhakrishna, noted that the trapping of over 50 government officers within just eight months in Bengaluru Urban district serves as a stark testament to how the lawless have entrenched themselves in public offices.
The court made these observations while rejecting the bail petition filed by Dr S Ramanuja, Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Appeals-6), who was trapped while accepting a Rs 25,000 bribe from the wife of a doctor for passing the order to waive off the GST.
Stating that no one can expect to work in the public offices without paying the illegal gratification to the corrupt officials, the court observed. Still, some people are there to express sympathy towards these corrupt officials, because they also have paid money to get their positions in the first place.
“We are not thinking about how the middle class, poor and helpless people who are struggling for their livelihood are becoming the victims and losing hope in the system. In other words, the cancerous seed of corruption is going to kill the very constitutional object. Therefore, it is time for every one of us to introspect and realise the responsibility to put an end to this menace”, the court observed.
The Lokayukta police registered the case on September 10, 2025, based on the complaint filed by D H Guruprasad. The commercial tax officers of Sira have issued a notice to the complainant’s wife, D G Gayathri Prasad, demanding the payment of Rs 2.79 lakh as SGST and Rs 2.79 lakh as CGST for the year 2018-19 concerning a cement shop in Sira town.
This was challenged before Ramanuja, who had demanded a Rs 75,000 bribe to allow the appeal, exempt from paying the GST, and to order a refund of the appeal fee paid. When the complainant expressed difficulty in paying Rs 75,000, the accused agreed to Rs 25,000.
Ramanuja denied the allegations and claimed that he was innocent. The court, while referring to objections filed by Lokayukta police, observed that the accused is an officer in the higher cadre.
The recording of statements from the material witnesses is noticed to have been still pending. Therefore, the possibility of holding threats to the complainant and influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out if he is granted bail at this stage.