The Karnataka High Court has overturned an order by a special court for elected representatives to conduct its own inquiry into allegations of corruption involving the 2010 allotment of a civic amenity site to a trust managed by the family of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
In a ruling delivered by Justice M Nagaprasanna on August 18 and released this week, the high court determined that the special court erred on August 11 when it initiated an inquiry under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The decision followed a petition from the original complainant, Vijayraghav Marathe, president of the Forum for a Corruption Free Karnataka, who had challenged the special court’s move to examine the matter internally rather than directing a police investigation.
Procedural Defects and Statutory Process
Justice Nagaprasanna ruled that when a complainant’s affidavit contains a curable defect, the appropriate judicial response is to allow the defect to be corrected rather than abandoning the prescribed statutory process.
The high court observed that Marathe had failed to observe required procedural safeguards under the BNSS while seeking a police probe against a public servant, specifically omitting details regarding any preliminary police inquiry.
Under the high court’s directives, the special court must grant the complainant an opportunity to rectify the shortcomings in his affidavit. Following those corrections, the lower court is instructed to handle the complaint strictly under the procedures outlined in Section 175 of the BNSS.
The high court clarified that it was not evaluating the substantive merits of the allegations, noting that the decision to refer the matter for an investigation remains entirely within the jurisdiction of the special court once proper legal procedures are observed.
Dispute Over Land Allotment and Valuation
The case concerns an 8,001-square-metre civic amenity property in Bengaluru’s BTM Layout IV Stage, II Block, allotted by the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) to the Siddhartha Vihar Trust. The site, valued at more than Rs 10 crore, was granted at a 50 per cent concession for Rs 1 crore during the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
According to the complaint, the trust secured the land by identifying itself as an organisation dedicated to the welfare of the Scheduled Caste community to construct an educational facility. The complainant alleged that the trust subsequently failed to use the property for its designated purpose.
The BTM Layout property was not the original parcel sanctioned for the institution. In April 2010, the state government had initially cleared the allotment of an 8,125-square-metre site in the 5th Block of Banashankari VI Stage. After the trust petitioned for a fee reduction, authorities lowered the lease amount from an initial Rs 2.03 crore to Rs 1.10 crore. The trust subsequently requested an alternative parcel, leading to the September 2010 transfer to the current BTM Layout site.
Legal Challenges and Competing Jurisdictions
The alternative site remains entangled in separate legal proceedings after the previous BJP administration denotified the parcel from BDA acquisition in favour of private owners. While the Karnataka High Court ordered the revocation of the original BDA acquisition in 2021 due to non-utilisation, the Siddhartha Vihar Trust successfully obtained a stay order protecting its possession of the land.
In his petition to the high court, Marathe argued that a court-led preliminary inquiry was an unsuitable mechanism to address claims involving corruption, the conferment of illicit benefits, and the abuse of public office. He contended that under the Prevention of Corruption Act, allegations of misconduct by public servants require an investigation by a specialized police agency equipped to handle such probes.
