Karnataka High Court quashes POCA proceedings against prison officials accused of 'royal treatment' to VK Sasikala in jail

The Karnataka High Court on May 18 quashed criminal proceedings against three prison officials for their alleged 'royal treatment' of former secretary general of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) VK Sasikala during her imprisonment in Bengaluru Central Jail. .Justice K Natarajan passed the order allowing three separate pleas by the three officials against whom the State government had accorded sanction for proceedings under the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA)..In 2017, an anonymous letter addressed to the Director General of Police (DGP), Prisons, alleged that Gajaraja Makanur, who was the sub-inspector of police at Bengaluru Central Jail at that time, was accepting bribes and allowing Sasikala to meet MPs and MLAs without recording their visits in the registry.After an inquiry conducted by an IAS officer did not find any irregularities, the investigation was handed over to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) by the State government. Subsequently, the ACB sought sanction from the State government to prosecute Makanur, the then Chief Superintendent of Prisons Krishna Kumar, and the then Assistant Superintendent of Prisons, Bangalore Central Jail, Dr. Anitha R, which was granted..The petitioners moved the High Court challenging the sanction contending that it was granted without application of mind. They pointed out that the main accused, HN Satyanarayana Rao, the former DGP of Prisions, was dropped from the chargesheet.Further, it was submitted that no specific allegations were made against them to attract any sanction under POCA..The Court found that the departmental enquiry against Kumar was still in progress and that no report was submittted against him. It also observed that there were no specific charges of corruption against him or Gajaraja.On the sanction granted against Dr. Anitha R, the Court found that the departmental enquiry against her was dropped by the sanctioning authority after it was set aside by the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT). The Court observed that there was non-application of mind as the same authority then accorded the sanction.Therefore, the Court allowed the petitions and quashed the sanction granted by the State government for proceedings under POCA.