Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 6: High Court has quashed the FIR and criminal proceedings initiated against then Executive Engineer (X-En) PMGSY for corruption and cancellation of contract work for maintenance of road citing the complaint has been filed at a belated stage and the investigating agency did not verify its authenticity.
Justice Sanjay Dhar said exercised discretionary powers under Section 482 of Cr PC to quash the proceedings that have been initiated against the petitioner.
Court added that the delay in lodging the complaint in the instant case assumes great significance in the face of the fact the contract of the complainant was terminated on the recommendation of the petitioner-X-En and it was only after the termination of the contract and subsequent re-tendering of the balance work, the complainant-contractor chose to set the law into motion by filing the complaint.
“Without going into this aspect of the case and simply accepting the version of the complainant as a gospel truth, the enquiry officer has abdicated his legal duty and thereby landed himself into an error by setting the criminal proceedings into motion”, court said adding with “… if the prosecutions of instant nature are allowed to proceed, then no Engineer would dare to take action against an erring contractor”.
Court on entertaining the complaint said, without undertaking the authenticity of complaint, it was not open to the Vigilance Organization to rely upon the bald allegations of the complainant. The Vigilance Organization, court added, did conduct a preliminary verification but I could not find anything worth the name in the verification file that would go on to suggest that an effort to find the reason as to why the complainant after having allegedly paid the bribe to the petitioner in April, 2011, chose to approach the agency as late as in December, 2013.
Justice Dhar said, it is clear that where the complaint is frivolous, vexatious or oppressive, the High Court would be well within its jurisdiction to quash the criminal proceedings. As already noted, the sequence of events in which the complainant has set the criminal law into motion against the petitioner-X-En in this case clearly indicates that his only motive is to take revenge against the petitioner-X-En who has been instrumental in recommending termination of his contract.
X-En PMGSY- Showkat Hussain Koul had challenged FIR No.05/2016 for offences under Section 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) and Section 4A of J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and 109 RPC registered with Police Station, Vigilance Organization Kashmir, Srinagar.
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