Smart meter graft case: Karnataka HC stays proceedings against energy minister K J George

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday ordered an interim stay on further proceedings against state energy minister K J George and two officials of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) in a complaint filed by three BJP legislators.

Justice MI Arun passed this order in the petitions filed by George, Mahantesh Bilagi, former Managing director of Bescom (presently MD of Karnataka State Minerals Development Corporation) and HJ Ramesh, Director (Technical), Bescom.

The court also ordered notices to the complainants as well as the Lokayukta police and adjourned the matter on two petitions to August 20. The petitioners have sought quashing of the private complaint before the special court for MPs/MLAs in a complaint filed on July 17, 2025. The petitioners further sought quashing of the order passed by the special court on July 23, directing the superintendent of police, Lokayukta, to file his report by the next hearing date under Section 175 (4) of the BNSS.

The complaint alleged offences under sections 314, 316 and 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 13(1)(a) and 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act for allegedly causing loss to the public exchequer in the tender proceedings for the procurement of smart meters.  The complainants said this act of the accused persons has caused wrongful gain to the contractor – Rajashree Electricals.

The complainants - C N Ashwath Narayan (Malleswaram MLA), S R Vishwanath (Yelahanka MLA) and
D Muniraj (Doddaballapur MLA) – had initially filed a complaint with the Lokayukta police on April 21, 2025. On July 15, 2025, the complainant also addressed a letter to the Governor, seeking sanction for investigation as required under section 17A of the PC Act. Subsequently, a private complaint was filed before the special court.

The petitioners contended that sanction under section 17A is mandatory for maintainability of a private complaint against a public servant. Senior Advocate C V Nagesh, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that under the PC Act, the public servants enjoy protections at two stages; prosecution stage and cognizance stage. He said section 17A mandates a report from the officer superior in rank against whom the allegations are made, and is required no such report is called from the superior officer.

On the complaint, the advocate said that the complainants are political rivals of the petitioner (George), and have sought to convert administrative decisions into criminal liability and weaponise judicial forums for extraneous motives. On the other hand, senior advocate  Lakshmy Iyengar, appearing for the complainants, submitted that a report from the superior officer, as required under section 17A, can be called after the police officer submitted the report to the court.