The Supreme Court has sought a response from former Karnataka State Open University V-C K S Rangappa on a plea filed by the varsity registrar against the High Court's decision to quash a criminal case against him for alleged financial irregularities.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to Rangappa and others seeking their reply within six weeks on the petition.
The HC passed its order on September 15, 2020, acting on a petition by Prof Rangappa, who was also former V-C of the University of Mysore. It has noted that charges levelled in the FIR were similar to the one filed earlier and the police had also filed a 'B (closure) report'.
Senior advocate Basava Prabhu Patil, appearing for the Registrar, KSOU, submitted that the Karnataka Governor, in his capacity as Chancellor of Universities, directed for a special audit into University finances and an institution of criminal proceedings for alleged violations.
The first complaint, which was lodged on August 19, 2016, did not cover the entire gamut of allegations adverted to in the communication of the Chancellor.
He said subsequently, an interim order was passed by the division bench of the Karnataka High Court on September 24, 2019 directing the Board of Management to indicate what steps were taken to comply with the directions which were issued under Section 8(8) of the Karnataka State Open University Act 1992 by the Chancellor.
"Thereafter, a second complaint was filed on November 20, 2019 to cover all the allegations, the content of which was not the same as the first complaint," he said.
Thus, since the content of the second complaint related to distinct transactions, the High Court was not justified in exercising its jurisdiction to quash the FIRs, he contended.
The court, after recording the counsel's submission, sought a reply from Rangappa and put the matter for consideration after eight weeks.
(Published 18 July 2021, 12:14 IST)
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