Bengaluru: In a big relief to MLA and former Minister K.J. George and two senior IPS officers — A.M. Prasad and Pranab Mohanty — the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday quashed the proceedings initiated by the Special Court, set up for cases against people representatives, in the case pertaining to the suicidal death of Dy.SP M.K. Ganapathy.

Ganapathy, who was serving as Dy.SP at Mangaluru, committed suicide by hanging himself in a room at a lodge in Madikeri city on July 7, 2016. Just hours before taking the extreme step, Ganapathy had spoken about harassment meted out to him by the then Home Minister K.J. George and the two IPS officers in an interview with a local TV Channel at Madikeri.

The CBI, which probed the case following a Court direction, filed the B Report (Closure Report) in October 2019, discharging George and IPS officers A.M. Prasad and Pranab Mohanty in the case. 

Questioning the B Report, the deceased Ganapathy’s son Nehal moved the People Representatives Special Court. 

The Special Court, which heard  Nehal’s petition, rejected the CBI’s B Report and issued summons to K.J. George and the two senior IPS officers. 

Subsequently, George and IPS officers A.M. Prasad and Pranab Mohanty challenged the order of the Special Court before the High Court.

Justice John Michael Cunha of the Karnataka High Court, who heard the petition of the former Minister and the two IPS officers, quashed the summons issued by the Special Court asking the three to appear for trial, while observing that there was absolutely no reason or justification for the Special Court to reject the well-founded report filed by the CBI and to take cognisance of the alleged offence and issue summons to the petitioners.