Karnataka HC.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has dismissed the petition filed by a sculptor for quashing criminal proceedings against him over allegations of cheating and criminal breach of trust pertaining to sculpting of a bronze statue of Parashurama at a theme park in Karkala, Udupi district.
"The work is not complete. It is fortunate that the statue did not fall after its inauguration, threatening the lives of common people. What is paid to the petitioner is neither the proposal funds of Udupi Nirmithi Kendra nor the money of the complainant. It is public money,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said.
Krishna Naik, a resident of Bengaluru, was entrusted with the work pertaining to sculpting of the bronze statue. The work was handed over without calling a tender availing the exemption clause under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act, by the previous BJP government.
There were allegations that the park was inaugurated when the work of the statue was incomplete and about the metal used for the statue.
The National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, was called upon to inspect the statue. The report stated that the metal content of the statue was 80% copper and 20% zinc. Subsequent to this, a man named A Krishna Shetty filed a complaint against the petitioner sculptor.
According to the petitioner, the allegation was that he committed GST fraud and the statue is de-erected for the reason that its alignment was not scientifically done. The petitioner said he is ready to complete the work of sculpting scientifically and get the statue re-erected, if permitted.
On the other hand, the complainant argued that Rs 1.2 crore was transferred to the petitioner even before the entrustment of the work. He said that the statue was brought down in January 2023 due to wrong alignment.
Justice Nagaprasanna noted that the petitioner, when entrusted with a job, has taken public money of Rs 1.25 crore, which is not a pittance.
"Public money of Rs 1.8 crore is sought and Rs 1.25 crore is paid, all for an erroneously aligned statue sculpted by the petitioner. It was hurriedly done for the purpose of the theme park and the petitioner is wanting to set it right for the last 12 months, which would not mean that the petitioner could get absolved of the investigation even, in the case at hand,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.
The court further said, “Therefore, it needs investigation in the least, as to why the petitioner has done a shoddy job, notwithstanding huge sums of money being transferred. The shoddy job is still being redone. This would clearly demonstrate that what was erected was only an eye-wash, at least qua alignment. In that light, I do not find any warrant to interfere with the investigation in the impugned crime.”