The Karnataka High Court has denied bail for the third time to K Ramakrishna, founder of Sri Guru Raghavendra Co-operative Bank in Basavanagudi, in a money laundering case involving misappropriation of hundreds of crores of rupees. The order was passed by a bench of Justice HP Sandesh on November 23 and was made available recently.
Ramakrishna was arrested in 2022 for his alleged role in a Rs 1,553 crore fraud involving creation of fake documents and persons to disburse loans. It was also alleged that an amount of Rs 928 crore was distributed to 24 people.
The latest attempt for bail was rejected by the Supreme Court on an appeal. Indian Express previously reported on the scale of the alleged fraud.
In this bail plea, Ramakrishna’s lawyer had argued on the basis of Section 479(1) of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNSS), which deals with the maximum period of custody of an undertrial prisoner. It was argued that despite two years and seven months of detention, the trial has not yet begun.
Opposition’s lawyer argued on the grounds of bail scale of alleged fraudIt was also informed that there were two cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The lawyer said that since there were separate cases, that section of BNSS would not apply.
The bench said that when the offenses are different and there are more cases registered against the petitioner, it cannot invoke the provisions under Section 479 of the BNSS while seeking relief on the basis of one-third of the punishment.
“The court has to take into account the gravity of the offense and the multiple counts against the petitioner and the fraud of more than Rs 1,544 crore that has been committed, that too the petitioner being the founder chairman of the said bank,” the bench said.
The court explained that when someone is facing investigation or trial for more than one offense or in multiple cases pending against a person, the court cannot grant bail to that person under Section 479 of the BNSS.
“It is important to note that the second provision of Section 479(1) of the BNSS empowers the court to order the detention of a person for more than half the period. 9. Must read all provisions
Jointly,” the court said.