Graft cases: Govt delays approval to Lokayukta to file appeals in apex court

The state government has been sitting on files pertaining to filing of Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) in cases of corruption.

The proposals for filing SLPs in as many as 10 Lokayukta police cases are pending with the state government. Some of these include cases against former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath and Dasarahalli MLA S Muniraju. The list also includes IAS officers and senior KAS officers. According to sources, the Lokayukta’s legal cell had cleared the proposal to file SLPs in 57 cases in the last two years. When cases of the Lokayukta police, either at the stage of investigation or trial, are quashed in Karnataka High Court, the legal cell of the Lokayukta takes a decision on appealing before the Supreme Court. Such proposals are forwarded to the state government for its approval. “In some disproportionate assets and court referred cases against lower rung officials, recommendations to file SLPs were sent since 2012 and, some were cleared in 2015. There was no communication from the government on the progress in high profile cases,” an official said.

 Similarly, the case of disproportion assets against Vishwanath and the land grab case against Muniraju are still pending with the state government.

The list of pending proposals to file SLP against senior bureaucrats includes the case against IAS officer Shamla Iqbal and other officials Muniraju, Usha Patwari in the irregularities in Integrated Child Development Scheme.

“There was a move to reject the proposal to file SLP in some cases. However, after persistent efforts the state government now seems to have decided to go ahead with the SLP,” the official said. Besides the Lokayukta police cases, the proposal to file SLP in illegal de-notification cases against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is also pending with the government. The high court had quashed the proceedings against Yeddyurappa for ‘defective sanction order’ from the then governor.

In this regard, additional advocate general of the state gave a legal opinion in December 2015, recommending for filing a SLP. However, the file is still pending with the government, while the private complainants in the case moved the Supreme Court with an appeal.