DAYANANDA POOJARY S/O. LATE CHINNAYA POOJARY Vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT, FINANCE DEPARTMENT, VIDHANA SOUDHA, BANGALORE - 560 001, THE KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTA REPRESENTED BY THE ADDL. DIRE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ petition, petitioner is calling in question the orders issued by the State Government vide Annexures -E and F, thereby granting sanction for prosecution of the petitioner in terms of Section 19(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short 'the Act') for the offences committed under Section 19(1)(e) read with Section 13(2) of the Said Act.

(2.) PETITIONER is a public servant working as Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. The 3rd respondent Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Lokayukta, Dakshina Kannada, conducted a search of the office and residential house of the petitioner and also the farm house belonging to his wife and seized certain documents. This was a sequel to the complaint registered against him by the 3rd respondent in Crime No. 5/2008. After the search, the petitioner was kept under suspension. He claims to have been re -instated later on by an order passed by the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal.

(3.) ON consideration of the report submitted by the Additional Director General of Police Lokayukta, Bangalore and after taking note of the search panchanama and the materials collected against the petitioner including the nature and extent of the assets possessed by the petitioner and his wife and other family members, the State Government has come to the conclusion that the petitioner was in possession of assets disproportionate to his known source of income and therefore sanction deserved to be accorded for prosecuting him. The Government having come to the prima facie conclusion that an offence under Section 13(1)(c) read with Section 13(2) had been made out, accorded sanction for prosecuting the petitioner by a Government order dated 02.05.2011 vide Annexure -E.