PSI scam: Karnataka HC rejects RD Patil’s plea to club multiple FIRs against him

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has rejected the petition of the prime accused in the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Recruitment scam, Rudragouda Devendrappa Patil (RD Patil), seeking to club the various FIRs registered against him across the state. The single judge bench of Justice K Natarajan on Thursday dismissed the petition by Patil.

The petitioner had sought the merger of the 11 FIRs and the charge sheets filed in some proceedings in connection with the PSI recruitment scam.

The court had granted a stay on the proceedings on April 17, 2023. With the petition being dismissed, this stay stands vacated.

Five cases were registered against Patil– one in Ashok Nagar police station in Kalaburagi, two FIRs in Station Bazar police station, one in Chowk police station, one in Dharwad Sub-Urban station, and one each in Tumakur’s Kyatasandra station and Bengaluru’s Ramamurthy Nagar police stations.

The prosecution had objected to the petition on the grounds that the crime in each of the FIRs was different and from different places and there were different accused in all of them. Patil was an accused in all of them but that alone was not sufficient reason to merge all the cases, it said.