Gavel
Opposing the bail plea, the public prosecutor had argued that Geetha was “not a scapegoat” and maintained that she was fully aware of her actions. Bengaluru: A special court has rejected the bail pleas of suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar and alleged middleman Basavaraj Kannale in connection with the veterinary doctors’ recruitment scam. However, the court granted conditional bail to KPSC member BV Geetha, citing her status as a woman.
The agency also pointed out that Geetha, a non-practising advocate, had earlier served as a prosecutor for Lokayukta police.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Sahukar and Geetha on Oct 6, while Kannale was arrested on Sept 18. Kannale was already in judicial custody following his arrest by the state criminal investigation department (CID) on Aug 30. Another prime suspect, IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, had his bail petition rejected last month. All the arrested are lodged in the central prison.
The petitioner is in judicial custody since Oct 19, apart from ED custody of 14 days. “The right to grant bail to a woman or the other class of individuals as mentioned under the first proviso of Prevention of Money Laundering Act is purely based on the discretionary power of the special court. The first proviso clearly confers a discretion on the court to grant bail, where the accused is a woman or sick or infirm. No doubt, at this stage, ED has made out a prima facie case against the petitioner herein pointing towards her guilt under PMLA. Thus, she has spent nearly a month in jail. Considering her age, status of being a woman, this court inclined to grant her bail,” the order copy read.