Granting relief to Energy Minister K J George and two others in the Bescom smart meters case, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quashed a private complaint filed by BJP leaders, including MLA C N Ashwath Narayan, alleging that a firm had been unduly favoured by the tender process for procuring smart meters for the discom.
The others granted relief by a bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna in the case are former Bescom managing director Mahantesh Bilagi and Bescom technical director Ramesh H J.
The complainants alleged illegalities in the evaluation of bids and in the awarding of the contract to Rajashree Electricals. The meters would feature a GPS-based communication system, with users being able to make payments and monitor power usage in real time. It was also alleged that these meters were provided at a higher cost compared to the prices of similar setups used in other states.
The complainants sought prosecution under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions related to misappropriation of property, breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy, as well as provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
George and the others approached the high court after a trial court sought a report from the Karnataka Lokayukta on the matter following the filing of the complaint.
The high court said the trial court should have examined whether the allegations constituted the offences as alleged in the complaint. “Only if the same can be answered in the positive, then only the trial Court should have called for a report from the Lokayukta Police,” it said.
The court elaborated that the current situation could at most be deemed a violation of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, but not a criminal act.
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“Allegations of the provisions… being violated or any other improper method of tender process and awarding of the contract, may give rise to a civil cause of action, for the concerned parties who were desirous of making a bid for the contract, or it can also be a matter of public interest litigation,” the order read.
The high court pointed out that three bidders had participated in the tender process in a transparent manner, while Bescom, after the process, had negotiated terms that were more favourable to it than the firm. “Whatever changes have taken place are for the benefit of the State or as a natural consequence of the business transactions, for which no criminality can be attributed to the accused,” it said.
The high court thus quashed the complaint, noting that the lower court had not applied its mind properly to the allegations before calling for the Lokayukta report.