ORDER

In W.P.No.8905/2022:

The petitioner is before this Court calling in question an order dated 21.04.2022 passed by respondent No.1 according approval for conduct of investigation against the petitioner for the alleged offences punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as 'the said Act' for short).

2. Heard the learned Senior counsel, Sri. D.R. Ravi Shankar appearing for the petitioner, Smt. Shilpa S. Gogi, learned HCGP appearing for respondent Nos.1 and 2, Sri. B.S. Sachin, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.3 and Sri. P.N. Manmohan, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.4.

3. Brief facts leading to the filing of the present petition, as borne out from the pleadings, are as follows:

The petitioner is an officer of the Karnataka Administrative Service having joined the service in the year 1999 and has since then been promoted to higher echelons of office. At the relevant point in time, the petitioner was holding the post of Deputy Secretary-2 in the Bangalore Development Authority (hereinafter referred to as 'the BDA' for short). It is this that tenure of the petitioner that forms the gravamen in the lis.

4. The issue in the lis da