In a relief to the former Vice-Chancellor of University of Mysore, S.N. Hegde (72), the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday quashed a corruption case registered against him in 2005.
The case was based on the allegation that he had demanded and accepted a bribe of $7,000 from U.S.-based K.L. Ramdas, chairman of TTL College of Business Management.
Justice Anand Byrareddy passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Mr. Hegde in 2006 questioning the FIR registered against him on August 6, 2005, and the charge sheet filed by the Lokayukta police before a Mysuru Sessions Court on August 30, 2005. Mr. Hegde had served as the Vice-Chancellor for two terms between 1997 and 2003.
Pointing out that there was a “weak attempt to justify the corruption case” registered by the Lokayukta police, the High Court declared that “it is evident that there was no complaint shown to have been made by Mr. Ramdas.”
The court also said that a Police Inspector has no power to investigate a corruption case.
Besides, the court also found that there was prior sanction for prosecuting Mr. Hegde while quashing both the FIR and the charge sheet. The complaint was forwarded to the Lokayukta police wing by the then Lokayukta after the High Court in 2004 held that the institution had no jurisdiction to probe a case against a Vice-Chancellor.
Denying the charges, it was contended in the petition that the complaint was “masterminded” by one K. Mahadev, who had a history of filing “baseless” complaints against many Vice-Chancellors of the university.