Rohini Sindhuri IAS Approaches Supreme Court Against Karnataka HC Direction To Sanction Probe In Cloth Bag Scam

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on Karnataka IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri's petition challenging the Karnataka High Court's order directing the State to grant sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to investigate the officer in alleged 'eco-friendly cloth bags procurement' scam.

A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu issued notice to the State and the complainant. 

Notably, the State Government also told the Court that they are also opposing the High Court's order.

Senior Advocate K Parmeshwar(for IAS officer) submitted that the State Government had declined sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, stating that disciplinary action has already been initiated; but the High Court issued a direction which amounted to virtually granting sanction.

To this, the State counsel submitted that they are also challenging the direction of the High Court.

Justice M.Nagaprasanna of the High Court, in the judgment passed on April 1, directed the State to provide approval to sanction preliminary investigation within four weeks. The court underscored that departmental exoneration cannot be utilised by the State to shield the accused officer from 'even the threshold scrutiny of criminal investigation'. The High Court passed the judgment in a writ petition filed by one Ravichandra Gowda who challenged the Government's decision.

The allegation against the IAS officer, during her tenure as the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner,  pertains to procuring cloth bags at Rs 52/- per bag whereas similar quality bags were easily available in the retail market at the rate of Rs 13/-. According to the complainant, the suspicious decision by the Deputy Commissioner cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 7.6 crores.

The IAS officer had previously made a decision to ban plastic bags and distribute eco-friendly cloth bags to the residents of Mysuru when she was the city's Commissioner in 2021

Case Details: ROHINI SINDHURI Vs STATE OF KARNATAKA|SLP(Crl) No. 6794/2026 Diary No. 20460 / 2026