A case was registered against two Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at Wilson Garden police station in Bangalore, accusing them of pressuring and threatening B. Kallesh, the current Additional Director of the Social Welfare Department and former Managing Director of the Valmiki Development Corporation. This case, involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s name in a money laundering scandal, has led the High Court to stay the FIR.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna’s bench heard a petition from ED Deputy Director Mittal and Assistant Director Murali Kannan, who sought the FIR’s cancellation. The court stayed the FIR on Tuesday and issued a notice to the state government for a written objection. The bench expressed concern that FIRs against officers performing their official duties could impede their effectiveness. Allowing the FIR to proceed would be an abuse of the legal process, leading the court to issue a restraining order against further legal action.
Assistant Solicitor General Arvind Kamat, representing the petitioners, argued that the FIR was filed six days after Kallesh’s interrogation and claimed that the state government was obstructing ED officers’ duties by filing false charges. Kamat sought a stay on the FIR, alleging that the state government’s actions were intended to hinder the ED’s investigation. The advocate general for the state requested the court to obtain CCTV footage of Kallesh’s interrogation to clarify the situation.
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