J&K High Court Quashes Embezzlement Case Against Ex-Head Of SMHS Hospital, Says Expenditure Was 'Motivated By Patient Care & Exigency'

In granting relief to a former Medical Superintendent of SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, the Jammu & Kashmir High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against the petitioner in an embezzlement case, holding that his conduct lacked mens rea and was already ratified by competent authorities.A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar observed that although there may have been procedural irregularities, "the only intention of the petitioner in doing so was to take care of extreme urgency that had arisen on account of peculiar circumstances which had prevailed pursuant to Amarnath Land row and the said action of the petitioner was even ratified by the Hospital Development Committee."The prosecution had alleged that between April 2007 and December 2009, a total amount of ₹1.02 crore was embezzled from SMHS Hospital accounts. The petitioner, then Medical Superintendent, was accused of irregularly utilising ₹16.45 lakh from the Hospital Development Fund (HDF) without prior approval.The court said that "mere lack of supervision on the part of the petitioner cannot form a basis for roping him in the conspiracy, particularly when he is not a signatory to the account books pertaining to those two account heads"The Court noted that while the petitioner had supervisory control over the accounts section, he was not the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) for those account heads which were central to the alleged embezzlement and that responsibility lay with various Accounts Officers during the relevant period.It observed that “the petitioner was neither responsible for maintaining the cash book nor for remittance into the Treasury. His liability, at worst, could be termed a lack of supervision, not conspiracy."The Court took into account material from the Case Diary, including an Office Memorandum and minutes of meetings signed by then-MLAs Mubarak Gul and Dr. Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, ratifying the petitioner's actions.Moreover, the government had only issued a warning against the petitioner in departmental proceedings and both departmental enquiry committees had exonerated him of any financial wrongdoing.The petitioner had cited public health exigencies during the 2008 unrest as the reason for spending ₹16.45 lakh from the Hospital Development Fund on essential drugs, fuel for ambulances, and repairs. The Court acknowledged that while some procedural norms were bypassed, the actions were taken under emergency conditions and were later validated by competent authorities.The Court also noted that vouchers amounting to ₹16.83 lakh had been recovered during the investigation, even though the originals were damaged in the 2014 floods.The court also relying on the Supreme Court's ruling in Ashoo Surendranath Tewari v. CBI (2020), in which it was held that once a person is exonerated in departmental proceedings based on the same facts, continuation of criminal prosecution would amount to abuse of process of law.APPEARANCE: Salih Pirzada, Advocate, with Ms. Sharaf Wani, Advocate, Bhat Shafi, Advocate., Advocate for PetitionersMohsin Qadiri, Sr. AAG, with Ms. Nadiya Abdullah, Assisting Counsel.Mr. Mohammad Saleem Qureshi (Inspector, I.O. ACB, South Wing)Case-Title: WASEEM QURESHI vs STATE OF J&K AND ANOTHER Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 258Click Here To Read/Download Order

J&K High Court Quashes Embezzlement Case Against Ex-Head Of SMHS Hospital, Says Expenditure Was 'Motivated By Patient Care & Exigency'

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J&K High Court Quashes Embezzlement Case Against Ex-Head Of SMHS Hospital, Says Expenditure Was 'Motivated By Patient Care & Exigency'

Aleem Syeed

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