BENGALURU: Terming the speed with which the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) prepared a source report, registered an FIR and conducted a search of a flat belonging to an engineer in 24 hours as “mockery of procedure”, the Karnataka High Court chided the ACB for throwing procedures and time required to follow them, to the wind. “It becomes a fit case, where this court cannot turn a blind eye to the plea of the petitioner for exercise of jurisdiction under Section 482 of the CrPC, and obliterate registration of crime against the petitioner. Failing which, it would become a classic illustration of a case becoming an abuse of the process of law and resulting in miscarriage of justice.
Above all, putting a premium on the action of the ACB, notwithstanding the fact that “the ACB blissfully ignored the ABC of procedure”, Justice M Nagaprasanna said, quashing the FIR and further proceedings against KR Kumar Naik, Executive Engineer, Operations and Maintenance Division, Bescom, Nelamangala. Naik’s counsel K Satish argued that the process initiated by the ACB is contrary to law, as no preliminary inquiry was conducted, no source report was prepared, and disproportionate assets shown in the ‘source report’ were zero.
Despite this, an FIR was registered, search was conducted and the petitioner was harassed. To counter this, ACB’s counsel defended the action of the investigating agency. The court said the report, in corruption parlance, is a source information report. It was generated in haste, the FIR was registered on March 16, 2022, and the source report was also done on the same day, in a jiffy.
The ACB, which performs a significant role in checking corruption among public servants, cannot indulge in such a casual act, the court added. A crime was registered against Naik under the Prevention of Corruption Act by ACB, a day after two travel bags and one carton, allegedly belonging to him, were found during a search on his neighbour Munavar Pasha’s flat. This was in connection with a disproportionate assets case registered against J Jnanendra Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Transport, on March 15, 2022, on the allegation that he possessed assets disproportionate to his known source of income.