The special court for cases involving MPs/MLAs on Saturday granted bail to BJP MLA K Madal Virupakshappa in a bribery case.
The special court judge has asked the Channagiri MLA to execute a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties for the like sum.
The court has imposed conditions that Virupakshappa shall mark his attendance before the Lokayukta police station once in three weeks, preferably on Sunday between 10 am and 5 pm, till the completion of the investigation. Further, he shall appear before the investigating officer (IO) as and when asked and shall not threaten or allure the prosecution witnesses.
The court also directed Virupakshappa not to leave its jurisdiction without prior permission and to surrender his passport, if any, to the IO. It has also asked him not to visit the factory and premises of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KSDL) till investigation was completed.
The Lokayukta police had arrested Virupakshappa on March 27, 2023 shortly after the high court rejected his application seeking anticipatory bail. The MLA had resigned as the chairman of the KSDL after the Lokayukta police registered an FIR against him and his son M V Prashanth Kumar in connection with the bribery case relating to a tender issued by the state-owned KSDL.
Prashant was caught red-handed by the Lokayukta police while accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh. Subsequently, the Lokayukta police seized Rs 8.02 crore cash during the searches at the office and houses in Bengaluru and Davanagere district.
Published 15 April 2023, 17:20 IST