Karnataka HC disposes of PIL on sex CD case

The high court on Thursday disposed of the PIL in the sex for job case involving former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi.

A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, also ordered that the remaining petitions, the pleas filed by the victim, be listed before the roster bench on Monday.

In view of the PIL being disposed of, the petitions filed by the victim woman will now be heard before a single judge bench.

The victim woman had challenged the legality and validity of the March 11, 2021 order of the Bengaluru city police commissioner constituting the Special Investigation Team (SIT), based on the note sent by the then Home minister.

On February 3, 2022, the bench had permitted the SIT to file the final report in the case against the former minister before the competent magistrate court.

The court had also stated that all the questions, including the question of competence and jurisdiction of the SIT, are open before the magistrate concerned.

The victim had challenged this order before the apex court.

Senior Advocate Indira Jaising informed the division bench that on February 18, 2022, the apex court had passed an order restraining further action on the final report submitted by the SIT and also requested the high court to decide on the issue of the validity of the constitution of SIT.

At this stage, the bench observed that it would serve no purpose keeping the PIL pending since the victim herself has challenged the order constituting the SIT.

“Once the victim has approached the court on the same issues, which are under challenge in the PIL, there is no purpose in keeping the PIL alive. As such, the PIL is disposed of. However, it is made clear that the remaining two petitions, which are connected with the PIL, shall be listed before the regular roster bench for disposal. The PIL shall be attached with the remaining two petitions for the purpose of referring to any documents if required. The counsel appearing for the petitioner in PIL may assist the court if necessary,” the court said.

Besides challenging the constitution of the SIT, the victim also prayed the court to transfer the investigation to some other agency.

She has contended that the SIT was constituted based on a letter by Ramesh Jarkiholi addressed to the then home minister Basavaraj Bommai.

In her other petition, the victim woman had prayed for quashing the complaint filed against her by one M V Nagaraju on behalf of Ramesh Jarkiholi.

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