The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the trial court’s order of discharging a sub-inspector of police from a criminal case registered in connection with the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) Group of companies.
The order of the trial court discharging Gowrishankar, who was then working as an SI in the Commercial Street police station, is a well-reasoned one in tune with the law laid down by the apex court and does not require any interference, said the High Court.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by the CBI, which had questioned the July 15, 2024, order passed by the trial court in discharging the SI.
Mr. Gowrishankar was arraigned as accused number 28 by the CBI in its supplementary charge sheet over the allegation that he had demanded and accepted illegal gratification on various occasions from Mohammed Mansoor Khan, a founder of IMA group, through a person named Waseem to favour IMA not to take any action on complaints registered against the company.
The trial court, in its order of discharge, held there was no evidence to hold Mr. Gowrishankar prima facie guilty while also pointing out that the records of the investigation also indicates that the search conducted on his premises yielded no results.
The High Court said the trial court, after considering the entire spectrum of allegations against Mr. Gowrishankar noticed that except a diary entry reading ‘Gowri-Waseem Bhai’ in an Excel sheet, nothing else was found against him.
Published – February 06, 2025 10:28 pm IST