Karnataka HC Grants Conditional Pre-Arrest Bail To BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, Adjourns Hearing To March 17

Anti-corruption branch of Lokayukta arrested his son Prashanth Madal while he was taking a bribe of Rs 40 lakhs on March 3.

Karnataka High Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, whose son was arrested by Karnataka Lokayukta police for taking a bribe of Rs 40 lakhs.

The court granted bail under the condition of Rs 5 Lakhs Bond and surety and has directed him to appear before Lokayukta within 48 hours. "Prima facie there's no material in FIR or in the complaint, therefore the court granted anticipatory bail to MLA Madal Virupakshappa," Madal Virupakshappa's Advocate, K Suman, told news agency ANI. 

Specifying that the bail order will be applicable till the disposal of the anticipatory bail petition, the court adjourned the hearing to March 17, said a Times of India report.

In an alleged cash-for-contract scandal, over Rs 8 crore was recovered by Lokayukta from the MLA's son Prashanth Madal last week. Lokayukta has registered an FIR in the alleged bribery case, in which Virupakshappa was named accused number one.

The unaccounted cash was recovered from the office of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited, of which Virupakshappa was the Chairman, after a trap by Lokayukta in which his son was caught red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh. The MLA subsequently quit the post.

Further searches led to the recovery of about Rs 2 crore from the KSDL office and over Rs 6 crore from Prashanth's house. Altogether Rs 8.23 crore cash, a huge quantity of gold and silver ornaments and large investments in land in various parts of Karnataka were allegedly uncovered, Lokayukta sources said as per a PTI report.

Virupakshappa has also approached a civil court in Bengaluru seeking an injunction against media houses from publishing defamatory news about him.

Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday slammed the BJP government on the bribery case. However, a counsel of BJP leaders claimed that there was no mention of Virupakshappa in the complaint. 

BJP oarsman for the upcoming Assembly election in Karnataka, BS Yeddiyurappa on Tuesday said that the party doesn't support the corruption-related incident and he asserted that the ruling BJP is not covering it up.