The High Court of Karnataka has said that granting bail to a 29-year-old Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) in the PSI recruitment scam case would definitely not be in the best interest of civilised society as the scam had impacted society at large and the accused PSI is capable of derailing the ongoing investigation.
PSI Harish K, who is already accused of derailing the entire system of selection process, “is capable of derailing further investigation. The effect of such influence either on the investigation or on the prosecution witnesses or on the materials that are already collected, would be very serious and definitely it is not in the best interest of the civilized society,” the Court said.
‘Impacts credibility of judiciary’
In such a scenario, “releasing the petitioner on bail will definitely send wrong signal to society and it will have an impact on the credibility of the judiciary,” the court observed.
Justice M.G. Uma made these observations while refusing to grant bail to Harish, who served at Byadarahalli police station and presently lodged in the prison since his arrest in June, 2022.
Stating that the charge sheet discloses prima facie materials against the petitioner, the court said: “The collective cry and the societal interest is considered to be the paramount and it is to be safeguarded at any cost. The rule of law cannot be ignored at the cost of individual rights and liberty.”
The petitioner is accused of helping two accused-candidates by collecting ₹30 lakh each from them and retaining ₹5 lakh as commission and conniving with other accused police officers and personnel to help the candidates get more marks by way of tampering their OMR sheets that were preserved in the safe custody.
