New Delhi, Nov 2 The Supreme Court has cancelled the anticipatory bail given to IPS officer Srinath Joshi Mahadev, accused of allegedly abusing his official position in a corruption case being investigated by the Karnataka Lokayuktha Police.
Setting aside the Karnataka High Court's anticipatory bail order, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva on October 29 directed Mahadev to surrender within three weeks from the date of its order. The apex court clarified that he would be at liberty to seek regular bail before the appropriate court in accordance with law.
The bench had allowed an appeal filed by the Karnataka Lokayuktha Police challenging the high court's September 1, 2025 order granting pre-arrest bail to Mahadev, who was then serving as a superintendent of police in the Lokayuktha.
Referring to the material procured by the prosecution, the bench said it warranted “deeper examination” and “the high court was not justified in foreclosing the possibility of custodial interrogation by granting anticipatory bail to the respondent”.
The case stems from an FIR registered on June 2, 2025 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Initially, the FIR named only Ningappa Savantha, a dismissed police constable, as an accused.
According to the prosecution, Savantha allegedly impersonated an official of the Lokayuktha's office and extorted money from public servants by threatening them. Mahadev was subsequently implicated in the case on the basis of disclosures made by Savantha and was arraigned as accused No. 2.
The prosecution alleged that the two accused were in contact with each other and that Savantha frequently visited the Lokayuktha office to meet Mahadev.
During the investigation, two mobile phone handsets were seized from Mahadev.
The top court noted that the devices were found to have been tampered with and extensively damaged.
They were subsequently sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination, but the report was still awaited when the high court granted him anticipatory bail.
The top court observed that the allegations against Mahadev warranted serious consideration, particularly in view of his position as a senior police officer in an institution established to combat corruption.
"The very objective of the Lokayuktha's establishment is to check corruption," the bench observed, adding that the allegation that an officer serving within the institution was himself involved in corruption required serious examination.
The court also said Mahadev, being a senior officer of the uniformed service, could not claim parity with an ordinary individual seeking protection from investigation and arrest.
Mahadev had approached the special court seeking anticipatory bail, but his applications were rejected. He subsequently moved the Karnataka High Court, which granted him relief in September last year.
The high court took into consideration the fact that Mahadev had appeared before the investigating officer in response to a notice and had not been arrested. It consequently observed that there was no apprehension of his arrest and granted him anticipatory bail.
