<p>The Supreme Court has stayed criminal proceedings against the then Karnataka government secretary K B Devraj, who was accused of committing irregularities in sanction and grant of works in the Public Works Department and caused a Rs 26.46-crore loss to the exchequer.</p>.<p>A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the Karnataka government on his plea to quash the proceedings initiated in 2013 in the Ramanagara court on a criminal case registered for offences of cheating, forgery among others under the Indian Penal Code and other offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, 1990.</p>.<p>The court provided interim relief to the petitioner and sought a response from the Karnataka government on his petition challenging validity of the High Court's judgement of September 16, 2020, dismissing his plea under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code.</p>.<p>The court recorded submission by his counsel S N Bhat that the file had already been cleared by the then chief minister by the time the petitioner joined as secretary on August 30, 2011 and his role was only to get the decision printed and circulated to the authorities concerned.</p>.<p>It was alleged that the petitioner-accused had issued circular on February 25, 2012, releasing grants during his tenure and that he was a party to the said circular. </p>
<p>The Supreme Court has stayed criminal proceedings against the then Karnataka government secretary K B Devraj, who was accused of committing irregularities in sanction and grant of works in the Public Works Department and caused a Rs 26.46-crore loss to the exchequer.</p>.<p>A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the Karnataka government on his plea to quash the proceedings initiated in 2013 in the Ramanagara court on a criminal case registered for offences of cheating, forgery among others under the Indian Penal Code and other offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, 1990.</p>.<p>The court provided interim relief to the petitioner and sought a response from the Karnataka government on his petition challenging validity of the High Court's judgement of September 16, 2020, dismissing his plea under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code.</p>.<p>The court recorded submission by his counsel S N Bhat that the file had already been cleared by the then chief minister by the time the petitioner joined as secretary on August 30, 2011 and his role was only to get the decision printed and circulated to the authorities concerned.</p>.<p>It was alleged that the petitioner-accused had issued circular on February 25, 2012, releasing grants during his tenure and that he was a party to the said circular. </p>
