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In a rare move, the Special Court for Criminal Cases has issued a show-cause notice to the investigating officer (IO) of the Lokayukta police against former and current MPs and MLAs for not ordering a fresh preliminary inquiry against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in an alleged bribery case despite a direction given by the court in February in this regard.

“Issue a show-cause notice to the investigating officer concerned and a copy of the same be sent to the Lokayukta police commissioner, directing the investigating officer to take necessary action in accordance with law,” said Santosh Gajanan Bhat, judge of the special court in the order passed on August 22.

The court noted that the Lokayukta police neither filed a fresh report nor conducted a fresh preliminary investigation as directed in its order dated February 21, 2024. Therein, the police had rejected the earlier investigation report and given six months’ time to file a fresh report after further investigation.

The court had rejected the earlier report, as the Lokayukta police had recommended closing the complaint without conducting any investigation but solely on the basis of a statement made by Mr. Siddaramaiah.

What is the case?

The case pertains to alleged corruption related to his tenure as Chief Minister during 2013-2018. The case was registered based on a complaint filed in 2022 by BJP’s N R Ramesh, a former councillor in Bengaluru.

The complaint alleged that in 2014, Mr. Siddaramaiah had accepted ₹1.3 crore from one L. Vivekananda alias Kings Court Vivek (accused no. 2), director of Vivek Hotels, Mysuru, to do him the favour of appointing him as steward and member of the management committee of Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) Ltd., using the power of the state government to nominate members to the management committee of the BTC. Though Mr. Siddaramaiah had declared ₹1.3 crore as “loan” taken from Mr. Vivekananda, it was actually an illegal gratification in the form of Tit for tat to nominate him for the BTC, the complaint alleged.

The court had sought a fresh preliminary investigation report to decide whether there is evidence to justify the registration of a first information report and to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

When the matter came up for hearing on August 22, the court noted that initially there was no representation from the Lokayukta police, but later sought time from the special public prosecutor to file a fresh status report.

However, later an IO appeared and told the court that he was not aware of the court’s February order to conduct a fresh inquiry and file a report. The IO, Thippeswamy HJ, told the court that “due to miscommunication he had not complied with the orders of this court”.

While ordering issuance of a show-cause notice, the court adjourned the matter till September 12 pending a further status report of the investigation.