CID gets 45-day extension to file chargesheet in KCOCA case where MLA Byrathi Basavaraj is accused

Shiva was murdered by a group of assailants wearing helmets over an alleged property dispute with associates of Basavaraj, the BJP MLA from the KR Pura region of east Bengaluru.

“The special court has extended by 45 days the time for filing a chargesheet in the case. The court has accepted the arguments of the prosecution that further investigations are needed and of a nexus with politicians involved in the real estate business. The court said a further extension can be sought under KCOCA,” Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ashok Naik said.

The court also rejected the pleas by five accused, who had sought statutory bail on account of the CID police not filing a chargesheet within 90 days as mandated under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Following Shiva’s murder, Basavaraj was named in the police FIR as accused number five, and his close associate, Jagadish Padmanabha alias Jaga, 48, was named as the main accused along with his gang members, Vimal Raj, Kiran Krishna, Madan K and Pradeep K. On July 16, a day after the murder, Krishna, Pradeep, Raj, Madan and Samuel Victor had surrendered before the police, claiming to be involved in the murder over a local dispute.

With the 90 days of their police custody set to end on October 16, the CID police, which earlier invoked the KCOCA in the case, moved an application in the special court for a 90-day extension to file the chargesheet. The five accused, who had been arrested on July 16 for the murder, also sought default bail.

During the arguments, the SPP argued for extension of time to file a chargesheet as there were materials sent to the state forensic laboratory for which reports were awaited and that investigations against Basavaraj had not progressed on account of the MLA approaching the high court and getting an order against “coercive action”.

The advocates for the accused argued that the pendency of investigations is no reason to prevent the grant of default bail that an accused is entitled to—in the event of the failure of the prosecution to file a chargesheet in the statutory 90-day period.

Special court upheld KCOCA invocation in September 24 bail rejection order

Earlier, the special court, while rejecting the bail pleas by some of the 17 accused in the murder case, had upheld the invocation of the KCOCA.

On September 24, the special court rejected the bail plea of six accused in the case—Madhan R, Pradeep K, Auto Shiva, Manoj K, Arun Kumar, and Naveen Kumar—on the grounds that the murder “prima facie” involved a “threat to public order”.

The special court also rejected the plea of some of the accused persons that the provisions of the KCOCA were wrongly invoked against them since they were not named as accused in multiple organised crimes.

The court pointed out that the involvement of one of the accused in organised crimes where charge sheets are filed and taken cognisance by the courts is sufficient to bring all other accused in a case under the purview of KCOCA.

“For instance, accused No.7 Madhan was involved in a case wherein he was alleged to have committed an offence punishable with more than 3 years and also under Sec.25(1)(B)(b) of Indian Arms Act. Though it is argued at bar that the other petitioners/accused persons were not involved in other criminal activities, it would be relevant to note that if a person becomes a member of an organized crime syndicate, the same would suffice,” the court said.

“That apart, in the instant case, accused No.1 Jagadeesh @ Jagga, accused No.2 Kiran, accused No.3 Vimal Raj, accused No.18 Patrick, accused No.19 Kiran are having several criminal cases pending against them,” the court pointed out.

“It is the settled principle of law that when a person joins an organised crime syndicate and they go on recruiting other persons into their syndicate for commission of organised crime, the same would suffice to invoke the provision of KCOCA, irrespective of the fact that it was the first criminal case being registered against a particular accused,” the court said.

The court also observed that the allegations in the Bikla Shiva murder case are grave in nature and the grant of bail would not be applicable on the grounds of long incarceration of the accused.

The police informed the court that the murder had its origins in a dispute dating back to February 2025, when a claimant to a property identified as Ravi contacted accused No.2 Kiran K saying that Shiva had illegally built a compound wall for four 30 x 40 sites belonging to the claimant.

The claimant also alleged that Shiva was verbally abusing accused No.1 Jagadeesh alias Jaga, a local gangster allegedly closely associated with Basavaraj. After a series of confrontations between Jaga’s gang and Shiva for dominance in the region, the former plotted his murder, it is alleged.

Jaga, 45, the gang leader and alleged associate of Basavaraj, fled from India to Dubai soon after the murder but was nabbed in Jakarta by Interpol on the basis of a blue corner notice issued at the instance of the CID and was brought to India and arrested on August 26.

The KCOCA is used to control organised crime on account of its stringent provisions for police custody of arrested persons, stronger norms for grant of bail, provisions for use of phone intercepts and police confessions as evidence, and a 180-day period for chargesheets.

Under KCOCA, a person is considered to be involved in “continuing unlawful activity” if any one person in the group of people who are accused of a crime has more than one charge sheet for similar offences filed against their name in the preceding 10 years.