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HC stays ACB court summons to IAS officer
Justice Raja Elango of the High Court at Hyderabad on Wednesday stayed proceedings against Karnataka cadre IAS officer K Ratna Prabha in the case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the Hyderabad based Raheja Mindspace – APIIC joint venture project.
Hyderabad: Justice Raja Elango of the High Court at Hyderabad on Wednesday stayed proceedings against Karnataka cadre IAS officer K Ratna Prabha in the case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the Hyderabad based Raheja Mindspace – APIIC joint venture project.
To the uninitiated, an Anti-Corruption Bureau court had on December 30 last year issued summons to her and other accused in the case directing them to appear before it on February 9 2016. Ratna Prabha was on deputation to the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh as Secretary Information Technology and Communications (IT&C).
The ACB was dealing with a complaint filed by Telangana advocate T Sriranga Rao accusing Ratna Prabha, APIIC MD B P Acharya and others of conniving with Raheja Mindspace to bring down the State’s stake in the joint venture from 11 per cent to a mere 0.5 per cent.
Counsel for the petitioner Y Srinivas Murthy pointed out that the ACB had erred in taking cognizance of the case against her because the law said that courts cannot take cognizance of the cases filed against public servants like IAS officers without a prior sanction from the government.
Moreover, he pointed out that the name of the JV itself showed that it is a joint venture between Rahejas and APIIC and the responsibilities for executing the project were fastened upon the APIIC and not to IT&C.
Had the trial court noted this simple fact, it would have refused to recognise the case filed against Ratna Prabha, he said. The petitioner’s counsel further pointed out that the ACB had dismissed proceedings against his client but again took up the case following the petition given by the advocate.
The judge granted two weeks’ time to the authorities to file a counter and stayed proceedings against the petitioner till further orders.
