These petitions are heard and disposed of together as they give rise to a common question of law.

2. The facts are said to be as follows.

The Government of Karnataka, through the Women and Child Welfare Department is said to have formed an Integrated Child Development Scheme, for supply of nutritious food to young children, teenaged girls and pregnant women. The Central Government was also said to be funding the Scheme. It transpires there was an agreement with a private entity, M/s Christie Fried Grams Industries, who was the exclusive supplier of the food. It was claimed in an anonymous complaint that the Director of the Department, one Shamala Iqbal, the Joint Director, one Usha Patwari, who is the petitioner in Crl.P. 816/2014 and the Assistant Director, one Muniraju, the petitioner in the petition in WP 9733/2016 were all being paid huge amounts of bribe to enable the above said supplier to palm off sub-standard goods. It is on information thus received that an FIR in Crime no.20/2012 is said to have been registered on 8-3-2012 by the respondent -Police for offences punishable under Sections 12, 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Hereinafter ref