Karnataka HC stays FIR against ED officials in Valmiki corporation scam case

Two ED officials are accused of pressuring B. Kallesh, linked to a money laundering scandal involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The High Court stayed the FIR against them, noting potential abuse of legal process. The state must submit objections. The officials argue that criminal cases hinder their duties, raising concerns about protecting officers in high-profile cases.

A case has been registered against two Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at the city's Wilson Garden police station for allegedly pressuring and threatening B. Kallesh, the current Additional Director of the Social Welfare Department and former Managing Director of the Valmiki Development Corporation. This case involves Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's name in a money laundering scandal linked to the corporation. However, the High Court has stayed the FIR.

The bench, led by Justice M. Nagaprasanna, heard a petition from ED Deputy Director Mittal and Assistant Director Murali Kannan, who sought to cancel the FIR. The court ordered a stay on the FIR on Tuesday and issued a notice to the state government to submit a written objection to the case. The justices expressed concern that filing FIRs against officers performing their official duties would hinder their ability to work effectively.

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The court noted that allowing the FIR to proceed would be an abuse of the legal process. Therefore, the bench issued a restraining order to halt further legal action against the ED officers. During the hearing, the petitioners had threatened to implicate the chief minister in the corporation scam. The advocate general for the state government had objected to staying the FIR and requested the court to obtain the entire CCTV footage of the room where Kallesh was interrogated.

Arvind Kamat, the Assistant Solicitor General representing the petitioners, argued that they needed access to files to answer three out of the 17 questions posed to Kallesh on July 16. He claimed that information should be obtained from lower-level officials and pointed out that Kallesh filed the complaint against the ED officers six days after the interrogation.

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Kamat alleged that the state government was threatening ED officers to obstruct their duties and investigations. He also claimed that despite having the necessary documents to support the charges, criminal cases were being filed against the officials to implicate them falsely. Kamat sought a stay on the FIR against the ED officers.

This development raises concerns about the legal processes and the protection of officers performing their duties in sensitive cases involving high-profile individuals.