Sources have stated that the Supreme Court on Monday had dismissed a petition by former Karnataka Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao to quash charge sheet against him. Justice Bhaskar Rao has been accused of voluntarily allowing misuse of the office of Lokayukta by his son Ashwin Rao for extortion and intimidation. Justice Rao had approached the Supreme Court after the Karnataka high court had refused to quash a FIR filed by the special investigating team against him in November 2016.
Meanwhile in his petition, the former Lokayukta had
contended that he had immunity from prosecution, a claim that was rejected by
the high court previously. A special investigating team had filed a charge
sheet naming Justice Bhaskar Rao in August 2016.
It was stated that the former Lokayukta
had appeared in person before a special court in Bengaluru and will now face
trial in the case involving his son and staff. Further it was stated
that the
Karnataka High court in November had held that the SIT has already received
sanction from the Governor to probe Justice Bhaskar Rao.
