Corruption case against Shamla Iqbal quashed

FIR against the IAS officer in an assets case also quashed

The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday quashed the proceedings initiated by the Lokayukta police against IAS officer Shamla Iqbal in an alleged case of corruption in grant of a contract for supply of nutritional foods under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and failure to ensure quality of food supplied under the scheme.

Justice L. Narayanaswamy delivered the verdict while allowing the petitions filed by Ms. Iqbal, a 2002 batch IAS officer, and other accused persons.

The court also quashed the first information report (FIR) registered by the Lokayukta police against Ms. Iqbal with regard to a disproportionate assets case. She is presently serving as the Additional Mission Director, SAKALA, Bengaluru.

The cases were registered against Ms. Iqbal, who was the Director of Women and Child Development in 2012, then Joint Director Usha R. Patwari, and T.S. Kumaraswamy and S.S. Mani, the proprietor and the general manager respectively of Christy Fried Gram Industry, which had supplied nutritional and supplementary food allegedly of “substandard” quality.

Ms. Iqbal had questioned the legality of the investigation carried out by the Lokayukta police without registering the FIRs.

It was claimed in the petition that the Lokayukta police searched the premises belonging to her prior to the registration of an FIR under Section 13(1)(e) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. It was pointed out in the petition that both the High Court of Karnataka as well as the Supreme Court had ruled that investigation in cognisable offences cannot be carried out without an FIR.

It was Ms. Iqbal’s contention that she was not responsible for awarding contract to the company for supply of nutritional food as the contract was awarded prior to her posting as the Director of the department.

The Lokayukta police, based on an anonymous letter received in 2010, had conducted investigation during January–March 2012, but the FIR was registered only on March 8, 2012, Ms. Iqbal had contended.

While accepting her contentions, the court also found that the Lokayukta police had no jurisdiction to probe the case under the provisions of the Food Safety Act.