The High Court of Karnataka on Monday stayed criminal proceedings and probe against two retired and one serving IAS officers initiated by a special court on a private complaint, which had alleged that six former officers of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department had caused loss of ₹269 crore to the exchequer by misappropriating public funds during the period 2009-15.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the interim order on the petitions filed by retired IAS officers and former principal secretaries of RDPR Department Amita Prasad and T.M. Vijay Bhaskar (who is also former Chief Secretary) and serving IAS officer E.V. Ramana Reddy, who is currently working as Additional Chief Secretary (Commerce and Industries Department).
A special court (for cases under Prevention of Corruption Act), Bengaluru, had on April 18 directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to conduct an inquiry under Section 202(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and submit the report to the court within four months on the allegations made in the complaint lodged by S. Narayanaswamy, a social worker from Kolar district.
