Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Challenge Against Anticipatory Bail Granted By Karnataka HC To BJP MLA

The appeal against the interim anticipatory bail granted by the Karnataka High Court to the BJP'S MLA from Channagiri was mentioned today before the CJI-led bench for an urgent hearing.

The MLA belonging to the ruling party was apprehending his arrest after the MLA's son was allegedly caught red-handed by the Lokayukta while taking huge amounts as a bribe. 

The matter was mentioned before the Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Krishna Murari and Justice PS Narasimha.

Senior Advocate Basava Prabhu S. Patil appearing for the Lokayukta, while mentioning the case, said that it is a matter of surprise that the bail was granted in a day. The Senior Advocate submitted, "the bail matter was filed on the 6th of March while it was listed immediately on the 7th of March and the interim bail was granted". 

The Chief Justice showed his inclination to list the matter on Friday, but the same was objected to by the Senior Advocate, urging the Court to list it earlier. 

The Chief Justice then asked the Senior Advocate to "mention the matter before Justice S.K. Kaul". The Counsel sought liberty to mention the matter at 2:00 pm today, which was allowed. 

The matter was then mentioned immediately before the Bench headed by Justice S.K. Kaul, and the Bench assured that the matter will be listed soon.

In an alleged cash-for-contract scandal, over ₹ 8 crores were recovered by Lokayukta from the MLA's son V Prashanth Madal. The MLA Virupakshappa's son was allegedly caught red-handed after a contractor filed a complaint with the Lokayukta.

Acting on the complaint, the Lokayukta laid a trap and allegedly caught Prashanth accepting Rs 40 lakh in cash.

Karnataka High Court on Tuesday granted interim anticipatory bail to the leader. The bench of Justice K Natarajan granted interim protection to Virupakshappa on the condition of furnishing a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh. The FIR has been registered for offences under Sections 7(a) & (b), 7(A) 8, 9 & 10 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Recently, the Advocates Association of Bengaluru had expressed serious concern at the early hearing granted to the leading party's MLA. The association expressed their anguish in the letter written to the Chief Justice of India stating that "The usual practice in the High Court of Karnataka is that new matters like anticipatory bail take several days and weeks for posting. However, VIP matters are entertained overnight".