Application seeking clarity on Acharya case judgment filed

An application was filed in the Special Lokayukta Court by T J Abraham, the complainant in the case on irregularities in the implementation of the Nice project, seeking clarifications in the wake of a judgement delivered on a petition filed by former Advocate General B V Acharya in the High Court.

Advocate K V Dhananjay, appearing for Abraham, said according to the law laid down by the judgment in the Acharya case, the Special Judge is said to have taken cognisance if he applies his mind to an offence or an allegation.

“The judgement even says that the Special Judge cannot even ‘notice the allegations’ or ‘even touch those papers’ without a sanction. On this principle, numerous cases in which the Special Judge had perused complaints filed by private persons and had then proceeded to direct police investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code are bound to become unlawful by reason of the B V Acharya judgment,” he argued.

A Special Judge can refer such matters to High Court, where the law needs to be clarified under Section 395(2) of the CrPC.  Stating that the Nice case is also affected by the judgment, Dhananjay argued  “The law on sanction has been known for more than 150 years and we have not come across any other judgment of any other Court laying down such a proposition.

A few hundred judgments of our Supreme Court have repeatedly stressed that whenever a Judge applies his mind to the allegation for the purpose of directing police investigation, he has not taken cognisance of the offence. The Special Judge can abide by the B V Acharya judgment only by disobeying hundreds of judgments of the Supreme Court..”

Abraham has written to Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao that all police officers and public prosecutors be directed to file applications to recall bail orders passed by Special Judges on and after August 3, 2012, when the B V Acharya judgment was passed.