Searches conducted during the probe revealed disproportionate assets worth ₹3.31 crore, accounting for 77.78% more than his legitimate earnings.
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A special court in Bengaluru has made scathing remarks against an investigation officer (IO) of the Karnataka Lokayukta police and experts from different departments of the State government for “serious investigation lapses,” “dereliction of duty,” “dishonesty,” and “misleading the court,” while convicting V. Muniyappa, a former Managing Director of the Karnataka Council for Technological Upgradation, in a corruption case.
The court sentenced Muniyappa, now aged 66, to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹4.50 crore.
The court found that Muniyappa had accumulated disproportionate assets worth ₹4.13 crore — a staggering 170% above his legitimate income — during the check period from December 9, 1982, to July 15, 2014.
K.M. Radhakrishna, judge of the special court for Lokayukta cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, found that Muniyappa had routed his ill-gotten wealth through family members, purchasing multiple properties in the names of his wife, a home-maker, and daughter and son, who were students with no independent income sources, during the relevant check period.
Analysing the quality of the probe, the Court pulled up the IO, T.V. Manjunatha, who had filed the charge sheet against Muniyappa, for multiple blunders including failure to investigate crucial assets like gold ornaments and ignoring evidence.
The court noted that the IO committed multiple blunders — including failing to investigate the source of 833.9 grams of gold ornaments, worth ₹21.68 lakh then, found during the raid, and accepting Muniyappa’s self-serving explanations without any verification.
The blunders committed by the IO reveal not only his negligence but also his disregard for investigating the assets and his failure to gather the necessary evidence, the court said. “This kind of conscious lapse not only helps the real culprits escape but also results in acquittals. Such lapses arise from the lack of timely supervision, scrutiny, and control over the investigation by the concerned superiors,” the court observed.
Flagging unnecessary delays in investigation, entrusting one case to multiple officers, and varying the quality of investigation based on the accused’s status — all of which destroy evidence — the court said these lapses defeat the very purpose of investigation and the PC Act.
Meanwhile, the court also pulled up four government officials — K.N. Kantharaju, an Assistant Director of Statistics, Nagaraju S., an Assistant Director of Agriculture, Narayana Swamy, an Assistant Director of Horticulture, G. Vasudeva, who was a Motor Vehicle Inspector at Indiranagar RTO — for negligence, dishonesty, dereliction of duty, and for misleading the court in their reports on the assessment of Muniyappa’s movable and immovable assets.
“This kind of conduct by public servants is totally intolerable. It is time to treat such lapses seriously in the interest of justice,” the court said, directing the four officials and the IO to show cause why disciplinary action should not be recommended against them.
Mr. Nagaraju and Mr. Narayana Swamy “appear to have prepared the reports to the satisfaction of invisible hands. In this way, they have not only committed dereliction of duty, but also misled the court by providing baseless information,” the court said.
Published – March 31, 2026 06:22 pm IST
