IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 12TH DAY OF APRIL, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE ARAVIND KUMAR CRIMINAL PETITION NO.6040/2018 BETWEEN:
SRI.LOKESHAPPA, S/O LATE ESHWARAPPA, AGED ABOUT 50 YEARS, R/AT 25, 1ST FLOOR, CHAITHANYA NILAYA, 3RD CROSS, NAGARAJU LAYOUT, OPP: SHOBHA ARCHIED, JAKKUR, BENGALURU – 560 064.
(BY SRI. VENKATESH C.R., ADVOCATE) AND:
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, REPRESENTED BY CBI/ACB/ BENGALURU, CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, ANTI – CORRUPTION BRANCH, BENGALURU – 560 001.
... PETITIONER ... RESPONDENT THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED UNDER SECTION 482 CR.P.C PRAYING TO QUASH THE IMPUGNED ORDER PASSED BY THE HON’BLE XVII ACMM, AT BANGALORE SPECIAL COURT FOR CBI CASES, DATED 26.06.2018, IN C.C.NO.11823/2017, AS ANNEXURE – A AND ALLOW THE ABOVE PETITION.
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION COMING ON FOR ADMISSION THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:
O R D E R Petitioner who is arraigned as accused No.7 in C.C. No. 11823/2017, which has been registered for the offence punishable under sections 120-B, 420, 468 and 471 of IPC, filed an application under section 239 for discharge along with accused 5 and 6, contending inter alia, that they are independent of the offences, without any material against them produced by the prosecution – CBI, and they have been falsely implicated as accused.
2. It is contended that learned trial Judge without considering the objections filed to said application, has rejected the same on the ground that in order to substantiate the allegations, made in the charge sheet, C.B.I. has cited 211 witnesses and has relied also upon 426 documents and the victims who are the candidates have also been cited as witnesses and as such, there is prima facie material against the petitioners. On these grounds the learned trial Judge has dismissed the application, which is under challenge.
3. It is the case of the prosecution that, petitioner under the guise of recruiting to various posts in the Railways, under the Ministerial quota, in conspiracy had mobilised the candidates through their colleagues, close friends and relatives and in the process made false recruitments for Group ‘C’ and Group ‘D’ employees by giving false assurances to the candidates that they would be appointed in Railways under (M.R.) quota. It is further alleged that in the process, the accused persons have collected huge cash from the candidates and there after made them to believe to fill up the forms and applications, had conducted false written examination, medical examination and documents verification at various places in Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore, Bhuvaneshwar and Vishakhapatnam. It is further alleged that on completion of alleged process, fake appointment letters to few candidates were also issued, including the posting orders.
4. The specific allegation in so far as accused No.7 is concerned, reads as under :
“8. That, Shri. Srinath (A-1) in connivance with M.Raghu (A-2), R. Pradeep Kumar (A-3), Sri. Hanumanthappa Hanumagatti (A-4), Shri. Shivaji Fauji (A-5), Shri. Vilvanathan (A-6) and Shri. Lokeshappa Eswarappa (A-7), mobilised candidates through their relatives, friends, colleagues, etc. and they conducted fake examinations to the candidates in groups during the period 2013 to 2015 at various places. The details of the candidates mobilized by each accused person and also the amounts collected from the candidates are as follows :
Sl. Name of the candidates Amts. Collected No. by accused persons 1. Shri. H.Manjunath Rs.85,000/-
2. Smt. Renukamma Rs.85,000/-
3. Shri. Anjeneya M. Rs.7,00,000/-
4. Shri. K.H. Manjunath Rs.4,75,000/-
5. Shri. Manjunath S.B. Rs.4,75,000/-
6. Shri. N.G. Shivu Rs.7,00,000/-
7. Shri. H.M. Lingaraj Rs.8,00,000/-
8. Shri. Punit. D Rs.4,75,000/-
9. Shri. S.G.Guru Rs.4,75,000/-
10. Shri. Niranjan Rs.7,00,000/-
11. Prakasha P.M. Rs.7,00,000/-
12. Shri. Thirumurthy S.R. Rs.7,00,000/-
13. Shri. Basavana Gowda S.G. Rs.7,00,000/-
14. Shri. U.Naresh Kumar Rs.7,00,000/-
15. Shri. U.Naveen Kumar Rs.7,00,000/-
16. Smt. Chaitanya K.H. Rs.1,50,000/-
17. Shri. Chatura K.H. Rs. ---
18. Shri. D.M.Muralidhara Rs. ----
19. Shri. P.M. Prakash Rs.7,00,000/-
20. Shri. Shantangouda Rs.8,00,000/-
21. Shri. S.C. Sunil Kumar Rs.7,00,000/-
22. Shri. P.S. Avinash Rs.1,50,000/-
23. Shri. Veerabhadra S.P. Rs.8,00,000/-“ 5. In the very same charge sheet, a further allegation is made against the petitioner which is to the following effect :
“10. That, Shri. Srinath (A-1) in connivance with Shri. Lokeshappa (A-7) had collected huge amounts from all the above mentioned candidates on various dates at different venues during the fake examination process. In furtherance to the criminal conspiracy, Shri. Lokeshappa (A-7) organized fake recruitment process along with Shri. Srinath and other accused persons in various lodges at Chennai, Madurai, Bhubaneshwar, etc.”
6. In the light of the said charge sheet material, it cannot be gain said by the accused that there is no material to proceed with the trial against them or framing the charge. Hence, this Court is not inclined to entertain this petition. No grounds and Criminal Petition stands dismissed.
SD/- JUDGE MGN