Karnataka High Court Declines To Quash Cheating Case Against Sculptor For Doing "Shoddy Job" Of Designing Statue For Theme Park

The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash a cheating case registered against Krishna Naik, accused of unscientifically erecting a 33-foot statue of Parashurama inside a theme park in Udupi district, which had to be brought down after a few months of erection.

A single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petition and said, “Though the petitioner was entrusted with the work of sculpting the statue scientifically according to specifications and within time frame, in the theme park before the inauguration day, he has done a shoddy job, prima facie.”

The police registered a case against him under Sections 409 and 420. Naik, was issued with a work order by Udupi Nirmithi Kendra to sculpt a Parashurama statue made out of bronze metal. He sculpted the statue, made it ready and was installed or erected on the intended site in 2023. However, the work of the statue was not complete.

On 21-12-2023 a show cause notice was issued to him for non-completion of the work within the extended period. He further sought extension of time. Later a report was received from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka ('NITK'), Surathkal which mentioned that the statue consisted of 80% copper and 20% zinc.

Later the CID registered a case against the petition, which came to be questioned before the High Court, which stayed proceedings. The complainant Krishna Shetty submitted that even before the beginning of the work Rs 1.20 crores was transferred to the petitioner claiming to be an advance. Thus, it is a matter of investigation. Moreover, the statue itself was wrongly erected. It was brought down in the month of January 2023 and even today the petitioner has not completed the work.

The bench on going through the records noted that petitioner in a representation submitted to the Project Director of Udupi Nirmithi Kendra admitted that the statue was prepared hurriedly for the purpose of inauguration of theme park and the alignment is wrong.

Referring to the report submitted by NITK which has confirmed the presence of copper and zinc in the statue erected by the petitioner. The court said “No fault can be found with the material used for the reason that bronze is not an independent material. It is an alloy.”

Then it said, “The material used may not fall for investigation as NITK, a premier institute has also confirmed its presence, but that would not absolve the petitioner of any investigation, as a shoddy statue was sculpted in a hurried manner.”

“The petitioner had admittedly taken Rs 1.25 crores. If Rs 1.25 crores is taken and the statue is not in an withstandable condition, it is ununderstandable as to what sculpting the petitioner did. After the de-erection of the statue, the petitioner is still wanting to work on the statue to bring it into proper form/alignment, after about 12 months of de-erection," it added.

The court said that it was fortunate that the statue did not fall, after its inauguration, threatening the lives of common people.

Then it held “Public money of Rs 1.80 crores is sought and Rs 1.25 crores is paid, all for an erroneously aligned statue sculpted by the petitioner. It was hurriedly done for the purpose of a theme park and the petitioner is wanting to set it right for the last 12 months, which would not mean that the petitioner could get absolved of the investigation even, in the case at hand.”

“Therefore, it needs investigation in the least, as to why the petitioner has done a shoddy job, notwithstanding huge sums of money being transferred. This would clearly demonstrate that what was erected was only an eye-wash, at least qua alignment. In that light, I do not find any warrant to interfere with the investigation in the impugned crime," it concluded.

Appearance: Senior Advocate M Aruna Shyam for Advocate Suyog Herele E for Petitioner.

Additional SPP B.N Jagadeesha FOR R1.

Advocate Srikanth V K for R2.

Advocate Dinesh Hegde Ulepady for R3.

Citation No: 2024 LiveLaw (Kar) 448

Case Title: Krishna Naik AND State of Karnataka & Others

Case No: CRIMINAL PETITION No.6159 OF 2024