The LX Additional City Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru has granted anticipatory bail to Ravishankar K S, the primary accused in a case involving allegations of a job recruitment scam at Bangalore University. The order, delivered by Judge Sri Narashimsa M.V. on February 3, 2023, highlights significant delays in the prosecution’s timeline and the presence of a broader conspiracy involving a self-proclaimed syndicate member.

The case, registered as Crime No. 123/2022 by the R M C Yard Police, centers on allegations of cheating and forgery linked to the promise of securing “Group D” government jobs.

The Allegations: Fake Appointment Letters and Financial Fraud

The legal proceedings were initiated by a first informant, Mohan Kumar T S. According to the complaint, Mohan Kumar was introduced to the petitioner, Ravishankar, through a mutual contact. Ravishankar allegedly represented himself as having high-level contacts within Bangalore University and assured the informant that he could secure permanent “Group D” positions for the informant’s unemployed brother and sister.

The informant claimed that between February 8, 2020, and March 5, 2020, he paid a total of Rs 4,56,000 to the accused through a mix of cash payments and bank transfers. Later, Ravishankar allegedly provided the victims with appointment letters printed on what appeared to be official Bangalore University letterheads. However, when the brother and sister reported for duty at the university campus, staff informed them that the letters were counterfeit and that no such vacancies existed. This led to the filing of a formal complaint in July 2022.

Defense Arguments: Oblique Motives and the “Mastermind”

The petitioner’s counsel, Sri D Bala Gangadhara, argued that Ravishankar was an innocent man being used as a scapegoat. The defense underscored a massive two-year delay in lodging the FIR, suggesting that the timing was suspicious and intended to harass the petitioner.

A critical piece of evidence presented by the defense was a prior police complaint (NCR) filed by Ravishankar himself in June 2022. In that complaint, Ravishankar alleged that he had been duped by a man named Sadar Ulla Khan. Khan had reportedly posed as a Syndicate Member of various universities, nominated by the Governor of Karnataka, and had collected money from Ravishankar under the same pretext of providing jobs.

The defense further linked this to an FIR registered at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station (Crime No. 50/2022), where the Special Secretary to the Governor had complained about Sadar Ulla Khan’s fraudulent activities. The petitioner argued that he was a victim of the same scam he was now being accused of orchestrating.

Judicial Reasoning: Delays and Lack of Specific Evidence

In his analysis, Judge Narashimsa M.V. pointed out several inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case. The court noted that while the money was allegedly paid in early 2020, the complaint was only filed in mid-2022, with no explanation for the gap. Furthermore, the first information report failed to mention specific dates on which the “fake” letters were handed over or when exactly the victims attempted to report for duty.

The court also observed that the brother and sister, despite being graduates, had apparently not followed any formal recruitment process or filed actual job applications with the university, making the reliance on a third-party “appointment letter” legally questionable.

Given that the offenses alleged are not punishable by death or life imprisonment, and taking into account the parallel investigation into Sadar Ulla Khan, the court determined that Ravishankar was entitled to protection from arrest.

Final Order and Conditions

The court allowed the anticipatory bail application for Ravishankar K S, directing the R M C Yard Police to release him in the event of an arrest. The grant of bail is subject to the following strict conditions:

• The petitioner must execute a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety.
• He is strictly prohibited from tampering with any prosecution witnesses or hampering the ongoing investigation.
• He must attend all scheduled hearings before the learned Magistrate without fail.
• He is not permitted to leave the jurisdiction of the Trial Court without prior permission.

This ruling ensures that the petitioner can participate in the legal process without the threat of immediate incarceration, while the police continue to investigate the wider network of the university job scam.