Bengaluru: A special court for Lokayukta cases convicted V Muniyappa, former managing director of Karnataka Council for Technological Upgradation (KCTU) at Basava Bhavana in Bengaluru, in connection with a disproportionate assets case.He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and told to pay fine of Rs 4.5 crore. In case he fails to pay, he has to undergo another six months of imprisonment, special judge KM Radhakrishna said in his order.Muniyappa’s period of service relating to the crime was between Dec 9, 1982, and July 2014. The accused accumulated assets worth over Rs 7.3 crore as against his known sources of income at Rs 4.1 crore.The special judge detailed lapses on the part of investigation and govt officials. He criticised the work of inspector TV Manjunath in particular. “He committed blunders while investigating admissions by witnesses regarding monetary transactions, including bank transactions involving family members of Muniyappa, valuation of seized gold ornaments, land holdings, etc,” the judge said.These kinds of conscious lapses not only help the real culprits to escape, but also end in acquittal of cases, the judge added.
