FIR lodged against Karnataka State Bar Council Chairman, others for misappropriation of funds; BCI looking into matter

The Bengaluru Police on April 17 lodged a first information report (FIR) against the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) and others for alleged misappropriation of funds and inflation of expenditure incurred during a State Level Advocates Conference organized in Mysore in August 2023..The case was lodged after a complaint was made by Senior Advocate Basavraj S..Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India (BCI) on April 12 formed a three-member Committee to look into the matter after the issue was raised in a letter dated April 5, sent by former KSBC Chairman Anand Kumar A Magadum.The Committee will consist of Senior Advocate Apurba Kumar Sharma and members Amit Vaid and Bhakta Bhushan Barik, who will conduct an inquiry into the allegations raised.The KSBC Secretary has been asked to submit all relevant documents pertaining to expenditure incurred during the conference within 15 days.Pending the inquiry, all members of the KSBC and other advocates are restrained from making further public statements on the issue, the BCI circular states.The Committee shall endeavour to identify the individuals responsible for disseminating false or defamatory information and recommend appropriate disciplinary action against them, it added..As per the complaint, records show that a total of ₹3.2 crore was spent on the conference held at Mysore. The complaint states that ₹70 lakh was shown to be spent on furniture and shamiyana for the conference; whereas the proprietor in charge of supplying these was paid only ₹20 lakh. Similarly, it is shown that ₹7.5 lakh was spent on the "musical night" at the conference, whereas no bills were submitted to the KSBC for this purpose.Further, close to ₹78 lakh was shown to be spent on catering by one Avni Enterprises. The complaint claimed that no such entity provided catering services existed and that bogus bills were generated in the name of a friend of one of the accused.Basavaraj claims that the accused are still in the process of creating fake bills to cover up their illegal acts.