R. ASHOKA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave Granted.

(2.) In these appeals under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, the appellants namely R. Ashoka in SLP (Crl.)9070 of 2018 and C. Sandeep Sahu in SLP (Crl.) 9614 of 2018, pray that this Court quash and set aside judgment dtd. 25/9/2018 which are analogously titled, passed in W.P. No. 1775 of 2018 and Crl.P.No.912 of 2018 arising out of FIR in Crime No. 5/2018 dtd. 8/1/2018 registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau [ACB for short], State of Karnataka.

(3.) The appellant was an elected member of the legislative assembly in the State of Karnataka. Between 1998 and 2007, he was Chairman of the Committee for regularisation of unauthorised occupation. The members thereof were the Tahsildar as the Secretary and three other persons. It was alleged in terms of the complaint dtd. 5/9/2012 [First Complaint] submitted to the Lokayukta that under the Chairmanship of the appellant, the land that was originally meant to be allotted to economically downtrodden persons and those below the poverty line as also the Scheduled Caste, was allotted to the members of his family/followers/members of the City Corporation etc. In terms of communication dated November 2012, the Additional Director General of Police, Karanataka Lokayukta, concluded that the appellant, who was at the relevant time a high-ranking Minister in the Cabinet, was in no way connected to the allegations. The conclusion is as under: