Supreme Court seeks reply in Karnataka Lokayukta appeal against anticipatory bail granted to BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly Madal Virupakshappa in an appeal filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta against the interim anticipatory bail granted to him in a corruption case..A Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia passed the order in a plea challenging the March 7 decision of the Karnataka High Court granting anticipatory bail to Virupakshappa..Previously, the State had mentioned the case before a different Bench, which said that the case would be listed as early as possible, without specifying a date..Virupakshappa had moved the High Court in a case filed against him by the Lokayukta police..On March 4, a special court in Bengaluru had remanded five people, including Virupakshappa's son Prashanth Madal, to fourteen days of judicial custody for allegedly accepting a bribe.Prashanth, who is the Joint Controller of the State Accounts Department, was occupying the 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. Kashyap had successfully participated in the tender process in January 2023 to supply chemical oil to KSDL.He 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 got relief from the High Court in the form of anticipatory bail..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..Before the top court, Senior Advocate Basava Prabhu S Patil with advocates Chinmay Deshpande, BB Patil, and Anirudh Sanganeria appeared for the appellants..[Read our live-coverage of the hearing below].[Read order]