BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Friday sought details of the probe that has been done so far by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the crime registered by the Union Bank of India against its officials and others concerning the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation scam.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order while issuing notice to the CBI after hearing the petition filed by BJP leaders Basanagouda R Patil (Yatnal), Ramesh Jarkiholi, Aravind Limbavali and Kumara Bangarappa seeking directions to the CBI to expedite the investigation in the complaint registered by the Union Bank of India and monitor the probe.
Advocate Venkatesh P Dalwai, representing the petitioners, submitted that no investigation took place even five months after the complaint registered by the bank into the siphoning of money belonging to the downtrodden was looted. However, the Special Public Prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar, representing the CBI, replied that the investigating agency was waiting since the petition filed by the bank seeking directions for the transfer of the crime registered by the state police into the scam was pending before this court and this court recently has rejected the same. Therefore, the investigation is being done, he told the court.
The petitioners have stated that the court-monitored investigation, in this case, is very much necessary since there is the possibility of not investigating the larger conspiracy into the misappropriation of money belonging to the scheduled caste allegedly involving a minister and high-ranking officials.
An impartial investigation is possible only under the supervision of the high court. Therefore a direction needs to be issued to the CBI to investigate the crime registered on June 3, 2024, at the earliest and consequently appropriate final report be filed before the jurisdictional court which has to expedite the trial, the petitioners prayed the court.