Appeal against Lokpal order: HC restrains CBI from probing MCD officials

Saying no specific allegations were made against MCD officials, the court said the only finding by the Lokpal was that there was massive illegal construction in south Delhi

New Delhi The Delhi high court on Wednesday restrained the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from executing an investigation ordered by the Lokpal against Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials over alleged unauthorised constructions in the Capital.

The court said as per the law, there has to be a preliminary investigation by an agency to ascertain whether a prima facie case is made out to proceed further, and in the present case, no inquiry was conducted by the Lokpal or the CVC before the direction for a CBI probe was issued. (Representative Image/AP)

In an interim order, justice Prathiba M Singh said that no preliminary investigation was conducted either by the Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) or the anti-corruption authority on a complaint of alleged unauthorised constructions in south Delhi.

The court said as per the law, there has to be a preliminary investigation by an agency to ascertain whether a prima facie case is made out to proceed further, and in the present case, no inquiry was conducted by the Lokpal or the CVC before the direction for a CBI probe was issued.

The CBI counsel said the agency was yet to register an FIR on the basis of the order of the Lokpal.

The matter will be heard next on April 25.

Saying no specific allegations were made against officials of the civic body, the court said the only finding by the Lokpal was that there was massive illegal construction in south Delhi, and the precise role of the public servants was not forthcoming.

“In the present case, the record would show that the CVC was merely asked to obtain a report from the MCD. The vigilance report of the MCD has been forwarded by CVC to Lokpal. In effect therefore, there has been no inquiry by CVC or Lokpal at this stage. No specific allegations have been raised against officials concerned or against the MCD and other agencies,” said the court.

However, clarifying that this is a prima facie view, the court said if a specific complaint is received by the Lokpal against other MCD officials or unauthorised constructions, there will be no interdiction on the authority proceeding as per law.

The proceedings before the Lokpal arose from a December 2021 complaint by Vikram Singh Saini, a former general secretary of the Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha, alleging some “illegal constructions” in an area in south Delhi on account of the conduct of certain officials.

The MCD and these officials had last year approached the high court against the Lokpal’s order for a CBI probe. The senior counsel appearing for the petitioners argued the proceedings arose from an unsuccessful RTI query by the complainant, and the law required the Lokpal to obtain the prior consent of the Delhi government before exercising its jurisdiction.

The counsel contended the complaint was not made in the proper format and the Lokpal’s order did not contain any reasoning as well.

In the petition, MCD and its officials have claimed that the complainant, without following the requisite procedure, filed a “frivolous, unsubstantiated and vague complaint” to the Lokpal which does not even make allegations with respect to specific corrupt activities.

It has submitted that the Lokpal passed a “blanket order” on the basis of an “incoherent and general complaint” with respect to alleged illegal constructions in south Delhi in 2020-21.

The Lokpal’s lawyer said notice was issued to the parties concerned before the direction was passed and the basis of the order was a report in the form of a covering letter received from the CVC along with a vigilance report of the MCD.