Yogesh Gowda Murder Case: Supreme Court Asks Karnataka High Court To Dispose of Plea Challenging State's Permission For CBI Probe In 2 Months

Opining that the Top Court had not expressed any opinion into the merits of the matter, the Division Bench of Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ajay Rastogi said,

"In the aforesaid circumstances, without going into the merits or demerits of the rival contentions, we request the High Court to take up Writ Petition No.51012 of 2019 for disposal as early as possible and preferably within two months from the receipt of copy of this order. Considering the issues raised in the matter, we request the Chief Justice of the High Court to assign the matter to a Division Bench of the High Court, if the relevant Rules so permit."

Taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case, the Top Court in its order clarified that the interim order dated February 20, 2020 would continue to operate and had also said that,

"Pending such consideration, the interim order passed by this Court on 20.02.2020 shall continue to operate. a) The main issue as raised in the writ petition is not yet gone into by the High Court, b) The matter in this Court arises from an interim order, c) As a result of the interim order passed by this Court, the aforesaid developments have already taken place. d) The interim order passed by this Court on 20.02.2020 continues to operate."

Background

In the present matter, the case that was related to the murder of Yogesh Gowda, Member of Dharwad Zilla Panchayat was made over by the State Government to the CBI on September 6, 2019. The Single Judge of the Karnataka High Court while issuing notice in a plea filed by the original accused No 1 (Basavaraj Shivappa Muttagi) had thereafter stayed the effect and operation of the permission granted to CBI which in effect prohibited the investigating agency from going ahead with the investigation.

Being aggrieved, the CBI had preferred the plea and the Top Court on February 20, 2020, issued notice and as an interim measure directed for staying the operation of the Karnataka High Court order.

This stay in the form of interim measure resulted in CBI conducting and carrying out the investigation. The CBI after such investigation had carried out the investigation and filed a challan on May 2, 2020 and added Accused Nos 7 to 14 in the array of the accused. Cognizance in respect of the first Challan filed by the CBI was also taken on May 2, 2020 itself.

CBI had also filed further Challans adding four more persons as accused and since Accused Nos.19 and 20 were public servants, sanction to prosecute them was also obtained by the CBI. The concerned court on June 7, 2021, took cognisance in respect of the said challans and the case was also registered against Accused Nos 15 to 17.

Case Title: Central Bureau Of Investigation v. Basavaraj Shivappa Muttagi & Anr.| Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.1348/2020

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