New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a plea challenging the Karnataka High Court’s decision to quash criminal proceedings against Congress leader and Minister K.J. George and two retired IPS officers. The case involved allegations of abetment to suicide by Deputy Superintendent of Police M.K. Ganapathy.

With this George has emerged victorious in the eight-year legal battle over Ganapathy’s suicide, with the Supreme Court upholding the CBI’s decision to clear the Minister of any wrongdoing.

Ganapathy, who was the then DySP in Mangaluru, died by suicide on July 7, 2016, by hanging himself in a room at a lodge in Madikeri town. The CBI had filed the ‘B’ closure report on October 30, 2019.

A Bench, comprising Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, found no merit in the petition against the High Court’s order and decided not to entertain the special leave petition filed by Sabitha, the deceased officer’s sister. The High Court had previously dismissed the case in November 2020.

Before his death, Ganapathy, during TV interviews, had accused the then Bengaluru City Development Minister K.J. George and senior officers A.M. Prasad and Pranob Mohanty of harassing him. However, the High Court ruled that the evidence presented by the investigating agency did not support allegations of instigation or conspiracy by George and the officers.

In September 2017, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI investigation into Ganapathy’s death based on a plea from his father, M.K. Kushalappa.