HC stays ACB from sealing Karnik’s bank accounts

Former MPSC Chairman, Sashikant Karnik, an accused in the 1999 MPSC scam, can now operate his bank accounts. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) move to seal nine accounts of Karnik and his family members.

Labelling the ACB action as “totally illegal and perverse”, the HC bench said the police had not followed the established procedure for sealing the accounts. The court also observed the police had admitted that till date they had not been able to conclude whether the money in the sealed accounts was linked to the disproportionate assets case.

Karnik had moved the HC challenging ACB investigating officer (IO), SB Pujari’s move to seal his bank accounts and those of his family members. The court upheld the arguments of Karnik’s lawyers, CJ Sawant and Samir Vaidya, that the IO did not have the power — under the Prevention of Corruption Act — to freeze bank accounts without issuing a show cause notice to the account holders.