Karnataka soap factory case: 4 officials of firm accused of paying bribes get anticipatory bail

The officials of the firm were named in a corruption case after two of its employees, Albert Nicola (51) and Gangadhar H (45), were caught with Rs 90 lakh at the private office of Prashanth Madal, son of the MLA, on March 2.

The two employees were found with Rs 90 lakh of unaccounted cash when the police allegedly caught Prashanth in the act of receiving a Rs 40 lakh bribe from an official of another firm, Chemixil Corporation, for the award of the KSDL’s raw material contracts.

The Rs 90 lakh found in the possession of the Karnataka Aromas employees was meant to be a bribe to be delivered to the BJP MLA after it was accepted by his son, the police alleged. Prashanth is an accounts officer in the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

“On inquiry, they confessed that the said cash was brought on behalf of the accused M/s Karnataka Aromas Company to make a payment in favour of the accused Prashanth Madal,” the police said.

The sessions court, however, allowed the plea for anticipatory bail on a bond of Rs 5 lakh each. “The prosecution has not made out any exceptional grounds to show the petitioners are not entitled for the relief under Section 438 of the CrPC,” the court said.

The police have registered three FIRs over the KSDL bribery scandal after a total of Rs 2.02 crore of unaccounted cash was found at Prashanth’s office.

In an FIR registered on March 2 on a businessman’s complaint, Prashanth was accused of demanding a Rs 81 lakh bribe at the behest of his father to clear contracts awarded to the businessman for supplying raw materials to the KSDL.

An amount of Rs 40 lakh was allegedly paid initially by the businessman and this amount was found in the possession of the MLA’s son during the police raid, as was an additional Rs 1.6 crore allegedly received as bribes from other suppliers.

The police arrested Albert Nicola and Gangadhar H on March 3 and registered a separate FIR with respect to the bribe allegedly paid by the duo to the MLA’s son.

The BJP MLA, who quit as KSDL chairman soon after his son was allegedly caught receiving Rs 40 lakh, was named as the accused number one in the first FIR, registered on March 2.

The MLA obtained anticipatory bail from the Karnataka High Court on March 7 on the grounds of lack of a direct link to the bribes. “An amount of 2,02,00,000/- was seized from the private office of Shri Prashant Madal on Crescent Road and Rs 6,10,30,000/- were seized from the residence of Shri Madal Virupakshappa,” the police stated after searches on March 2 and 3.

While Prashanth is a close associate of a senior BJP leader’s family members, MLA Virupakshappa is close to former chief minister B S Yediyurappa.