The Karnataka High Court recently granted bail to DA Srinivas Naidu, the son of former Congress MP DK Adikesavulu Naidu, in connection with a counterfeiting and forgery case. A bench of Justice Shivashankar Amaranannavar directed the release of Srinivas in an order dated February 27, 2026. Srinivas had filed a petition before the High Court seeking his release on bail.
The High Court noted that all the documents have been recovered from the petitioner and have been sent for forensic examination. The court added that no documents remain to be recovered from the petitioner, and therefore, there is no need to keep him in custody. ” The entire case of the prosecution rests on documents which are already seized, available on record, and subjected to forensic examination. The petitioner does not hold custody of any document, seal, stamp, or material object. When the investigation is document-centric and no recovery is pending, continued incarceration serves no investigative purpose. The petitioner has already been interrogated earlier by the Special Investigation Team,” the High Court said.
The High Court further noted that the accusation against Srinivas was not of forging seals or manufacturing stamp papers but of association and usage. “Even as per the prosecution case, the alleged counterfeiting of government stamps and seals is attributed to some other accused persons who, in fact, have already been charge-sheeted by the Special Investigation Team. There is no direct allegation that the petitioner has operated the franking machine, forged seals or manufactured stamp papers. The allegation is one of association or alleged usage. During the course of further investigation by the CBI, the petitioner was not immediately arrayed as an accused,” the court stated.
Pointing out that the petitioner appeared before the CBI when summoned and furnished all documents, the High Court added, “During the course of further investigation by the CBI, the petitioner was not immediately arrayed as an accused. He appeared before the CBI-IO as and when summoned and furnished all documents. CBI has already collected documentary, oral, and circumstantial evidence.”
The High Court said that since the investigation of the case has been almost completed by the CBI, there is no possibility of the petitioner influencing the investigation or the witness. “Now the matter has been investigated by the CBI, a well-reputed Investigating agency. As the major portion of the investigation is over and the fact that the CFSL report has also been received by the Investigating Agency, it cannot now be alleged that there are chances of the petitioner winning over the Officers of the Investigating Agency and the prosecution witnesses,” the High Court said, granting him bail subject to certain conditions.
The conditions included executing a bail bond of ₹5 lakh and two sureties for the like sum, subject to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court, surrendering his passport after one week of being released on bail, and not entering Karnataka till the submission of the final report in the case.
Background of the case
The present case arises out of an FIR filed against Srinivas in 2022 under Sections 120B read with Sections 465, 467, 468, 471, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259 and 260 of IPC. The CBI accused Srinivas of counterfeiting and forging government stamps and documents. The case relates to the transfer of land belonging to one K Raghunath, a close associate of DK Adikesavulu Naidu. K Raghunath passed away under unnatural circumstances in 2019. His 54-acre properties are the subject matter of the case.
The CBI has pointed out that Srinivas forged some documents, including a will to make himself a beneficiary of Raghunath’s properties. The agency also accused him of Subsequently, an FIR was filed by the Halasuru police in 2021 after a sub-registrar flagged fake franking on documents from multiple offices. The sub-registrar said that the forged documents were prepared using a machine which belongs to his office, and 08 documents of Yelahanka Sub-Registrar Office, 09 documents of Shivajinagar Sub-Registrar Office and 05 documents of Kengeri Sub-Registrar Office were prepared while using forged seal and signature of his office officials.
The case was initially being probed by an SIT, but the investigation was handed over to the CBI on the court’s direction. Srinivas approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the transfer of the investigation to the CBI, which was granted in 2022. However, later on, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to conclude the investigation within 8 months from the date of the receipt of the order. The 8-month period ended in December 2025, and the CBI has requested the court for the extension of the period.
