Most unfortunate that a former High Court Judge paid bribe for securing post of Governor, lowers prestige of Judge: Karnataka High Court

A former Karnataka High Court judge’s attempt to secure the post of Governor by paying bribe to a middleman astrologer has lowered the prestige of judges and the image of the Governor’s post, the Karnataka High Court recently said [Yuvaraj vs State of Karnataka]..The observation was made by single-judge Justice K Natarajan while denying bail to the astrologer Yuvaraj Swamy, accused in multiple cases of allegedly cheating politicians, businessmen and the former High Court judge, Justice BS Indrakala. ."It is also most unfortunate that a former Judge of the High Court has paid bribe to the petitioner for securing the Post of Governor which act of the complainant not only lowered the prestige of a Judge and (sic) also affect(ed) the image of Governor’s post," the order said. .The petitioner had approached the High Court seeking bail in different crimes registered against him by the Cyber Crime Police, High Grounds Police and Jnanabharathi Police for the offences punishable under Sections 406, 418, 419, 420, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act)..Yuvaraj Swamy was arrested in December 2020 by Bengaluru police for allegedly cheating several people of crores of rupees by promising them high positions in the government. The retired High Court judge had allegedly paid the accused a sum of Rs 8.5 crore through RTGS and cash after Yuvaraj took the ex-judge to meet top political leaders. Following Swamy's arrest in December 2020, the retired judge filed a police complaint alleging that she was cheated by Swamy..Arguments of Parties.Senior Advocate Tomy Sebastian, appearing for the accused, contended that the petitioner is innocent of the alleged offences and he has been falsely implicated by the Police on the complaint filed by him against the Joint Commissioner of Police, CCB, to Lokayukta. The Police have called the complainants and received complaints from them. Subsequently, cases were registered the cases against the petitioner, it was submitted. .Further, the amounts received by the petitioner have been already recovered by the Police and they have also seized the bank accounts of the petitioner. Since the Police have already filed charge-sheet in all the cases, the presence of the petitioner is no more required for investigation, it was further argued. .Special Public Prosecutor VM Sheelavant vehemently opposed the bail application, contending that the petitioner cheated many people by receiving huge sums of money from them with false assurances to provide jobs.The Police recovered huge cash and filled cheques from the custody of the petitioner, it was pointed out. The petitioner is a proclaimed offender in a case registered by Upparpet Police in the year 2003 itself. In the said cases, the petitioner was absconding for almost 16 years, the Court was informed. It was also submitted that though the Police have recovered documents and filled cheques from the custody of the petitioner, they are yet to investigate the matter with regard to cash transactions made and received by the petitioner. Therefore, his presence is very much required. .What the Court held The Court, after going through the details of each case registered against the accused, went on to note that Swamy appeared to be a middleman having contacts with ministers but is suppressing the names of persons to whom he has paid money for securing posts. "Though he has stated in his voluntary statement that he has paid some amounts to the politicians and other persons and assured to provide jobs, but the petitioner seems to be a middleman and highly influential person having contact with Ministers otherwise, it is not possible to promise or assure for providing or securing jobs like Governor, Chairman of Boards and Transport Corporation and also other posts do not arise. He is suppressing the names of the persons to whom he has paid the money for securing the posts," the order noted. Justice Natarajan was further of the opinion that the accused had committed a heinous offence of cheating educated people as well as a retired High Court Judge. This apart, the Court added that if the petitioner is granted bail, he will tamper with the prosecution witnesses and commit similar offences. "He is a very influential person and he may threaten the prosecution witnesses and cause a hurdle to the investigation by the Police. If he is granted bail, there will be a wrong message sent to the Society that a person having money can buy a post in the Government. Hence, he does not deserve for grant of any bail," the Court ruled. .With these observations, the Court rejected the bail application..[Read Order]