Petition in SC against probable state police chief

 An old case has come back to haunt senior IPS officer Rupak Kumar Dutta, who is in the race to be the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and DG&IGP of Karnataka. A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court for setting aside a high court order that quashed a cheating and forgery case against him.

In a separate case, Common Cause, an NGO, has cried foul before the Supreme Court that Dutta was transferred from the CBI to the Ministry of Home Affairs to be kept out of the race for CBI director.

On Monday, a petition was filed before the Chief Justice of India for an urgent hearing of the case against the officer, who had supervised investigation into the high-profile 2G and coal block allocation scam cases. It was alleged that Dutta, during his tenure as ADGP (anti-corruption wing) in Karnataka Lokayukta’s office, pursued an LLB course from a Bengaluru college in 2009. He either forced the college to give him the mandatory 70% attendance or attended class while on duty.

In March 2015, a magisterial court had ordered the registration of an FIR against Dutta and the college. It was alleged that Dutta did not obtain permission from the government to enrol for the course. The high court quashed the case in September 2016 after the college submitted that it conducted classes between 7 am and 9.30 pm and that Dutta had requisite attendance.  G Mallesh, the original complainant, has now challenged the high court order.