Make guidelines to monitor probe in graft cases lodged by govt depts: HC

The Jaunpur district administration had noticed certain irregularities in the construction of Amrit Sarovar in the district

The Allahabad High Court has taken a serious note of the delay in the investigation of cases regarding corruption lodged by government departments. It has directed the state government to constitute a high-powered committee, with the chief secretary as its chairperson, to formulate guidelines within three months for the monitoring of investigation of first information reports (FIRs) registered in such cases.

The court, while taking a very serious note of the corruptions involved in the project, dismissed the writ petition, observing that the allegation against all petitioners was creation of forged and fabricated documents to misappropriate an amount of Rs. 15,57,790, causing a financial loss to the public exchequer. (File)

Dismissing a writ petition filed by one Manish Kumar Singh and others, who were accused of indulging in corruption in a government project, a division bench comprising Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Justice Vinod Diwakar further directed that the aforesaid guidelines should ensure that investigations were completed in a phased manner expeditiously, and strictly in accordance with the provisions of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) as well as other applicable legal provisions intended to facilitate effective, fair, unbiased, and expeditious investigation.

The court directed that in the initial phase “all CP/SPs (police regional heads) from districts will provide a list of FIRs that have been registered on behalf of government departments, which will include the date of registration of FIR, the time and place of the incident, the name of the complainant, and the names of the suspects / accused persons”.

“Additionally, a brief overview of the progress made in the investigations conducted thus far should be included. This information must be submitted within a month of the date of receiving a copy of this order from the Chief Secretary’s office. This quantifiable data collected from all police stations be used to formulate comprehensive guidelines”, the court further directed.

In the present case, on the complaint of some public representatives, the Jaunpur district administration noticed certain irregularities in the construction of Amrit Sarovar (a central government initiative to construct ponds in rural areas) in the district. The project director completed the inquiry and observed that the then-concerned secretary, Pradhan, assistant programme officer (APO), Lekhakar and Rojgar Sewak were found to be involved in the execution of work amounting to Rs15,57,790 in defiance of the provisions of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA). Based on the finding of the Inquiry Committee, the present FIR was registered against the petitioners at Sujanganj police station of th district on August 21 this year.

Subsequently, the petitioners--Manish Kumar Singh and two others--filed the present writ petition seeking stay of their arrest and also for quashing of the FIR stating that they were falsely implicated in the case.

The court, while taking a very serious note of the corruptions involved in the project, dismissed the writ petition, observing that the allegation against all petitioners was creation of forged and fabricated documents to misappropriate an amount of Rs. 15,57,790, causing a financial loss to the public exchequer.

The judgment was delivered on November 29 and came to light on Friday.