TV
Bhubaneswar: Presumably in a first, the Orissa High Court has reprimanded the director of the Vigilance department for trying to implicate former director-general of police Prakash Mishra in a graft case which it quashed recently due to lack of evidence.
In its verdict, the court has said, “...the manner in which the preliminary enquiry has been conducted and method adopted by the enquiry officer in conducting the enquiry post-haste, without even verifying the relevant documents and examining any witness, clearly goes to show that he was bent upon implicating the petitioners and thereby facilitate registration of the FIR against them. Hence, the entire action of the Vigilance authorities smacks of arbitrary and mala fide exercise of power with the oblique motive to harass the petitioners and damage their reputation.”
The judgement further read, “It is the duty of the State to track down and punish all delinquent officers but it is certainly not in accordance with justice and fair play that their conviction should be sought for by such questionable means which is bound to cause incalculable harm and damage to the officers concerned.”
On Friday, the HC quashed the corruption case lodged by the Vigilance department against Mishra due to lack of evidence. The court, while quashing the FIR and related criminal proceedings, observed that there was no case made against Mishra under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
While delivering the verdict, which was reserved since April, Justice S.C. Parija observed that "it's not uncommon that upright and honest officers are often victimized by political establishments". The single-bench of Justice Parija also lashed out at the Vigilance director for failing to ensure a fair investigation before registering an FIR against one of the most senior IPS officers in the country.
On September 20 last year, the Vigilance department had registered a case against Mishra, then special secretary in the Union ministry of Home Affairs, under Section 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of PCA. It had alleged that during his tenure as chairman-cum-managing director of Orissa Police Housing and Welfare Corporation, Mishra had shown undue favour to some steel and cement suppliers.
The complaint had claimed that he had made advance payment of Rs 59 crore to them in 2006 to 2009, bringing huge losses to the State exchequer. Mishra had moved the High Court challenging the charges. The former Odisha top cop alleged in his counter petition that the FIR was registered against him with mala fide intentions to tarnish his image and create hurdles in his career. Mishra was then in the race for the CBI's top post.
Mishra had wondered if, according to the FIR, the irregularities were committed during 2006 -2009, how he was made the DGP of the State in 2012. He served in the post till 2014.
Notably, during hearing of the case, the High Court had provided interim protection to Mishra and directed the department not to take any coercive action against him till its disposal. Mishra was later appointed as the director-general of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) by the Union government.
