Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday asked on what legal basis the State government has established the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The High Court stayed the proceedings based on two separate FIRs registered against two state government officials by the ACB.
Justice Anand Byrareddy passed the interim orders while hearing separate petitions filed by K.T. Nagaraj, Chief Engineer of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and Gayathri N. Nayak, Special Land Acquisition Officer of State’s National Highways division, Mangaluru.
The ACB’s counsel said that it was created through an executive order of the State government.
Gayathri Nayak, a KAS officer, has also contended in the petition that the ACB is one without authority of law though it purports to create an independent wing, and it is controlled by the Chief Minister.
The ACB is under the excessive control of political executive, and promoting the growth of authoritarianism and shaking the foundation of democracy.
In his petition, Nagaraj had questioned the basis on which the source report about his assets was prepared by the ACB officials considering the properties of his relatives without any valid reason and in violation of the prescribed norms.
