Karnataka HC judge adjourns hearing of bail application after SC stay

The Karnataka high court judge, Justice HP Sandesh, adjourned the hearing of the bail application of the deputy commissioner and others who were arrested by the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) recently.

This adjournment came after the Supreme Court on Monday (July 18), in a significant development, stayed the orders given by Sandesh, who had sought the reports filed by the state’s ACB and the service records of officers, including that of the Karnataka Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), while hearing a bail hearing.

The counsel representing the ACB, PN Manamohan brought the information regarding the stay given by the Supreme Court. He also informed the court that the order copy of the Supreme Court is yet to be received. Justice Sandesh posted the hearing to July 20 saying, “Let us receive the SC order and we will hear the bail application later.”

The single-judge bench of Karnataka HC overseeing the corruption case involving a deputy commissioner had expressed its dissatisfaction with the conduct of the state’s ACB and sought relevant documents from the agency, prompting the ACB to move the court seeking  the remarks made against them be expunged.

Also read: SC stays Karnataka HC judge’s directions while hearing bail plea in bribery case

The judge had also directed the CBI to produce the investigation report, wherein the CBI had searched the residence of ADGP Seemanth Kumar Singh when he was the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Bellary district, in connection with an illegal mining scam.

Earlier in the day, a SC bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said the high court judge, while hearing the bail plea of an accused, had made some “irrelevant observations” beyond the scope of the bail application. The top court, however, refused to expunge the remarks and transfer the case to some other bench in the high court saying that it had to be balanced.

Also read: ‘Threatened’ Karnataka HC judge: ‘Will bell the cat even at cost of my judgeship’

“The proceedings before the Karnataka High Court, which are not linked with the proceedings with the accused, are stayed. We request the high court to consider the bail application of the accused. List it after three weeks, the apex court bench said.

The top court was hearing as many as three petitions filed by the Karnataka government – Seemanth Kumar Singh, ADGP of Anti-Corruption Bureau, and jailed officer J Manjunath against the adverse remarks made by Justice Sandesh.

The HC judge had orally called the ACB a “collection centre” and Singh a “tainted officer”.
Justice Sandesh had also claimed to have received a threat of transfer in his order after his adverse remarks and had widened the scope of hearing while considering the bail plea of deputy tehsildar Mahesh in the case.