What is the urgency? Supreme Court on plea by Karnataka Lokayukta against anticipatory bail granted to BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa

The Karnataka Lokayukta has moved the Supreme Court challenging an order of the Karnataka High Court granting interim anticipatory bail to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Madal Virupakshappa in a corruption case..The matter was initially mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud who asked the Lokayukta's counsel to mention it before the next senior most judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul since the CJI was sitting as part of Constitution bench. The matter was then mentioned before the bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aravind Kumar and Ahsanuddin Amanullah which asked what was the urgency in a plea seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail. The bench then said that the case would be listed as early as possible but did not specify any date. "What is the urgency in this? Is an issue to cancel anticipatory bail? List as early as possible....High Court has applied its mind na..Here it is cancellation of bail being sought. What is this (urgency)?" the bench asked..The order under challenge was passed by single-judge Justice K Natarajan of the High Court on March 7 granting bail to Virupakshappa while directing the MLA to cooperate with the investigation.Virupakshappa had moved the High Court in a case filed against him by the Lokayukta police..Earlier, on March 4, a special court in Bengaluru had remanded five people, including Prashanth Madal who is Virupakshappa's son, to fourteen days of judicial custody for accepting a bribe.Prashanth, who is the Joint Controller of the State Accounts Department, was occupying post of Chief Accountant in the Bengaluru Jal Board..He was allegedly caught by the Lokayukta Police taking a bribe of ₹40 lakh to award a contract to supply chemicals to the Karnataka Soap and Detergent Factory (KSDL).The complaint was filed by one Shreyas Kashyap, who owns a partnership company called Chemicals Corporation in Bengaluru, after having successfully participated in the tender process in January 2023 to supply chemical oil to KSDL..Kashyap complained to the Lokayukta Police that the MLA and his son had demanded a bribe of ₹81 lakh to release the mandate and money.A case was registered against Prashanth and Virupakshappa under Section 7(a) and 7(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.The MLA is the first accused while son is the second accused in the case.Later, Prashanth and four others were arrested on bribery charges..They were produced before Judge B Jayanthakumar and sent to judicial custody on March 2.“Lawmaker Virupakshappa is missing. A case has been registered against the remaining four accused under Section 8 of the PC Act. A total of ₹8.3 crore was found in the raids on Virupakshappara's residence in Bangalore and Channagiri, including ₹40 lakh in bribe money,” Lokayukta office sources had told Bar & Bench last week.Later, Virupakshappa moved the High Court for anticipatory bail which was allowed.Meanwhile on March 8, a civil court in Bengaluru temporarily restrained 45 media organisations from broadcasting defamatory material against Virupakshappa and his son Prashanth Kumar MV in connection with the case. .[Read our live-coverage of the mentioning below].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.