The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash a cheating case filed against Krishna Naik, accused of unscientifically constructing a 33-meter high Parasurama statue at a theme park in Udupi district, which had to be demolished after several months of construction.

Single panel of judges Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the lawsuit and stated that “Though the petitioner was entrusted with the task of carving the statue in a scientific manner, as per the specifications and within the stipulated time, at the theme park before the inauguration day, prima facie he did a shoddy job.”

The police registered a case against him under Sections 409 and 420. Naik was commissioned by the Udupi Nirmithi Kendra to make a bronze statue of Parashurama. He carved the monument, prepared it, and it was installed or erected in its intended location in 2023. However, work on the monument was not completed.

He was issued a show cause notice on December 21, 2023 for failure to complete the work within the extended period. He also requested an extension of the deadline. Later, a report was received from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (“NITK”), Surathkal, which mentioned that the statue was composed of 80% copper and 20% zinc.

Later, the CID registered a case against the petition, which was challenged before the High Court, which stayed the proceedings. The complainant, Krishna Shetty, stated that even before the work commenced, an amount of Rs 1.20 crore was given to the petitioner in the guise of advance payment. It is therefore a matter of investigation. Moreover, the statue itself was wrongly erected. It was removed in January 2023 and even today, the petitioner has not completed the work.

While going through the records, the bench observed that the petitioner in his statement submitted to Udupi Nirmithi Kendra project director had admitted that the statue was prepared in haste for the inauguration of the theme park and that the arrangement was incorrect.

Referring to the report submitted by NITK which confirmed the presence of copper and zinc in the statue erected by the petitioner. The court stated “No defects can be found in the material used because bronze is not an independent material. This is stop.

Then it was said: “The material used may not be under investigation as NITK – its presence has also been confirmed by a premier institute, but this does not exempt the petitioner from any inquiry as the shoddy statue was carved in haste.

“The petitioner actually took Rs 1.25 crore. If an amount of Rs 1.25 crore was collected and the condition of the statue was not tolerable, it is incomprehensible what the petitioner did. After the removal of the monument, the petitioner still wants to work on the monument in order to give it the appropriate shape/position approximately 12 months after its installation.” he added.

The court said that fortunately, the monument did not fall after the inauguration, endangering the lives of ordinary people.

Then it stuck “Public money of Rs 1.80 crore is demanded and Rs 1.25 crore has been paid, all for a misaligned statue carved by the petitioner. This was done in a hurry for the purposes of the amusement park and the petitioner has been seeking to rectify it for the last 12 months, which does not mean that even in the present case he could be exempt from investigation.”

“Therefore, it requires at least an inquiry as to why the petitioner did a shoddy job despite handing over huge sums of money. This would clearly show that what was erected was merely an eyewash, at least as an equalizer. In this light, I find no order to interfere with the investigation into the alleged crime.” – he said.

Appearance: Senior Advocate M Aruna Shyam for Advocate Suyoga Herele E for the petitioner.

Additional SPP BN Jagadeesha FOR R1.

Advocate Srikanth VK in R2.

Advocate Dinesh Hegde Ulepady in the case of R3.

Citation No.: 2024 LiveLaw (Kar) 448

Case Title: Krishna Naik AND State of Karnataka et al

Case No.: CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 6159 OF 2024