Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, May 1: In a bizarre twist of tale, an alleged smuggler has filed case with CBI against 21 officials of the custom department of Kempegowda International Airport, Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city.

The FIR filed by CBI in April was put on stay by the high court as objections were filed against it by the customs department.

Kripalani M, a businessman who used to import and export electronic goods lost his license because of his fraudulent practices which were unearthed by the customs officials, which filed an FIR in this regard.

This incidents occurred three years ago. Kripalani shot the videos of the custom officials, without their knowledge for three years in order to book them. With the help of these videos, he accused 21 officers of the customs department and seven others of criminal conspiracy, forgery and criminal misconduct. But the customs department dismissed his complaint within no time citing lack of evidence and it said that he is trying to take revenge against the officials who had cracked his wrongdoing.

Kripalani approached the CBI, when his plea went unheard in the customs department. But the CBI also refused to file a complaint as there was no evidence against the erring officials of the custom department. This forced Kripalani to file a writ petition in the high court against all the officials of CBI and customs.

The high court asked the CBI to file an FIR against all the erring officials, though the custom department was not a party to the writ petition. Finally, CBI filed an FIR on April 10 of this year after which the same was challenged by the custom department in the high court.

The decision on the matter was put on stay by the high court on April 16 and the next hearing of the case is slated for June 10 to assess the validity of the case.