HC remands corruption case against C T Ravi to trial court

Bengaluru, Nov 7: The High Court of Karnataka has remanded the corruption case against BJP leader C T Ravi to the trial court with a direction to allow the private complainant to file an affidavit, as mandated by the Supreme Court.

The bench said the complainant may also file the complaint to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Ravi, Chikkamagalur MLA and BJP general secretary, had moved the petition praying to quash the entire proceedings in the disproportionate assets case against him.

The petition challenged the procedure followed by the special court in referring a private complaint about the investigation to the ACB. The private complaint was filed in 2012, but the order for the investigation was passed in 2016.

The petition said that the procedure, adopted by the special court, is contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Priyanka Srivastava’s case.

The Supreme Court-mandated recording of the sworn affidavit by the complainant before passing the order for the investigation so that the magistrate could verify the truth of the allegations and also obviate false and irresponsible complaints being filed.

The counsel for the ACB argued that the complaint was filed much earlier to the law laid down by the Supreme Court (2015) and non-filing of the affidavit does not amount to an illegality.

Justice John Michael Cunha held that since the private complaint prayed for the investigation under section 156 (3) of CrPC, the law, laid down by the Supreme Court, comes into force.

The court observed that considering the mandatory nature of the direction, the coordinate bench of the High Court has directed the registry to send a copy of the judgment to the Law Commission for bringing about necessary amendment.

“Until the said amendment is brought about, the directions given by the Honourable Supreme Court are required to be followed as the law of the land,” the court said.

The court remanded the matter to the special court to grant an opportunity to the complainant to file his affidavit. “It is also open to the complainant to file the complaint, if need be, before the Anti-Corruption Bureau, as the allegations pertain to the offences under Prevention of Corruption Act,” the court said.