Vigilance Dept Lodged Case Based On Pseudo Complaint Which Victimised Accused: Punjab & Haryana HC Quashes Corruption FIR

The Punjab & Haryana High Court quashed an FIR lodged under Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) against Gulmohar Township India Pvt Ltd and its director for allegedly fraudulently bifurcating a land into smaller plots without following due process of law and causing huge loss to State exchequer.The Court noted that the complaint was lodged by "Navjot Singh-congressman" whose identity is unknown and without verification the complaint was sent to the Deputy Superintendent of Police.Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu said, "the criminal proceedings have been initiated by the Vigilance Bureau on the basis of pseudo complaint made by one “Navjot Singh-congressman”, whose identity/credentials are not known till date. Thus, it can be safely observed that aforesaid pseudo complaint was made just to victimise the petitioner(s) for ulterior motive and extraneous reasons, which are unknown to law."The Court added that then State Chief Vigilance Commissioner also failed to exercise due diligence while not getting verified the identity of the complainant and straightway, forwarding the pseudo complaint to Deputy Superintendent of Police, (Vigilance), SAS Nagar Mohali.These observations were made while hearing the plea for quashing FIR, under Sections 409, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471and 120-B of IPC and Section 13(1) (a) read with Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.It was submitted by the Punjab Government that the FIR has been registered on the basis of source information report and the plot in question measuring 25 acres was initially allotted for Industrial purposes to PALI Ltd. in 1984, on concessional rates for setting up an industrial unit to generate revenue for the State, but they miserably failed to do so.The State alleged that Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd gave 'No-Objection Certificate' to sell the plot and it was sold to Private Developer i.e. Gulmohar Township against the terms of allotment and it was fraudulently bifurcated into 125 smaller plots by the petitioner and other co-accused without following due process of law.It was further submitted that bifurcation fees paid by Gulmohar Township was grossly inadequate and had the plot been sold after adopting due procedure, the Government must have earned Rs 500 to 700 Crore, and as such, there is substantial loss caused to State exchequer by petitioners in collusion with other co-accused.After examining the submissions, the Court noted that the complaint filed is "a pseudo communication made to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner and till date, the identity/credentials of complainant “Navjot Singh-congressman” are not known. Neither aforesaid “Navjot Singh-congressman” joined preliminary inquiry; nor he was associated during investigation by the Vigilance Bureau for the reasons best known to them."Justice Sindhu opined that it is not conceivable as to how the State Chief Vigilance Commissioner has set the Bureau into motion, without ascertaining the sanctity of complaint as well as credentials of the complainant.The Court added that "there is no hesitation to observe that non- association of complainant “Navjot Singh-congressman” by the Vigilance Bureau casts serious doubts on the functioning of the quarter concerned, especially in view of the fact that in penultimate paragraph of the complaint."It also found that the allegations contained in the FIR are based on mere conjectures. The bifurcation of plot in question into 125 plots was allowed by the Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation (PSIEC) as per Policy dated 08.02.2005 which is continuously being followed in the entire State of Punjab and more than 100 plots have been bifurcated in the State under this policy.The judge highlighted that there is no quarrel that an additional revenue was earned by the State Government and PSIEC while allowing bifurcation in the year 2021, therefore it would be absolutely wrong on the part of Vigilance Bureau to allege that transfer was unlawful or caused loss to the State Exchequer.In the light of the above, the Court quashed the FIR.Title: Gulmohar Township India Pvt. Ltd. and others v. State of Punjab and others [along with connected matters]Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (PH) 14Click here to read/download the order

Vigilance Dept Lodged Case Based On Pseudo Complaint Which Victimised Accused: Punjab & Haryana HC Quashes Corruption FIR

Aiman J. Chishti

Tags