Valmiki Corporation Case: Karnataka High Court Issues Notice To Congress' B Nagendra On ED's Plea To Cancel Bail

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued notice to Congress leader B Nagendra on a petition filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to cancel the bail granted to him by the special court in a case of money laundering case in connection with the alleged "scam" relating to Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd.

A single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna said “Emergent notice to respondent returnable by November 15. Petitioner at liberty to serve counsel who served respondent before trial court.”

A special court in Bengaluru had on October 14 granted bail to Nagendra, who was arrested by the ED on July 12.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju appearing for the agency said “On law there are so many flaws in the order.” However, the High Court orally remarked, “Cancellation of bail cannot be decided without hearing the respondent.”

The Valmiki case came to light after an official of the corporation Chandrasekaran who worked as a Superintendent died by committing suicide and left a note containing an allegation of multi-crore corruption in the corporation.

In a six-page suicide note recovered by the police, Chandrasekaran mentioned the names of three officials and alleged corruption worth crores in the corporation, demanding action against the named officials. Subsequently, the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister, B Nagendra had resigned and was arrested.

The Special Investigation Team formed by the State Government has completed the investigation in the case and filed its chargesheet in the special court.

Case Title: DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT AND B NAGENDRA

Case No: CRL.P 11089/2024

Appearance: ASG S V Raju for Petitioner.