Full Text
HIGH COURT OF DELHI
HOM KARAN ..... Petitioner
Through: Ms. Geeta Luthra, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Simran Khurana, Advocate.
Through: Mr. Ajay Vikram Singh, APP.
JUDGMENT
1. This is a CRL. Revision Petition seeking the following prayers: “ i. call for the records of the case titled "State Versus Hom Karan, decided by the Ld. Court of Ms. Kiran Bansal, Spl. Judge, PC Act(ACB-01), Rouse Avenue District Court, New Delhi having C.C.N0.289/2019; ii. set aside the impugned order dated 09.03.2022 passed by Ms. Kiran Bansal, Special Judge, PC Act (ACB-O[1]) RADC, New Delhi inC.C.No.289/2019, FIR No.183/2014, U/s. 13.1(c) POC Act and Section 409 of IPC, P.S. I.P. Estate, titled "State Vs. Hom Karan”;
2. Brief facts of the case are: i. On 01.03.2014, the Revisionist, who held the post of Assistant Commissioner in the Trade & Taxes Department, had seized 24 cartons of unaccounted goods at Old Delhi Railway Station. For security reasons, these goods were stored in the officer's room within the Conference Hall on the 13th Floor, Vyapar Bhawan. ii. On 5.3.2014, a Committee was constituted by the Joint Commissioner Sh. Ashish Mohan (Enf.-II) for preparing inventory. During preparation of the inventory, it was revealed that the said bags were containing costly items like gold, silver and diamond jewelry and cash besides other goods/articles. Police protection was requested for ensuring the safe custody of the sealed goods. However, the same was declined and the police personnel advised the officer to deploy their own guards from the department. iii. On 11.03.2014, an inventory was prepared and the seized goods were securely sealed. To ensure their safety, a committee constituted by the Joint Commissioner assigned two existing security guards from the department, namely Ajay Pal and Devender Sharma. Additionally, two more guards namely Puran Chand and Pitamber Mehto from the Caretaking Branch of the department were also deployed for the same. iv. On 07.05.2014, a meeting took place in the Conference Hall, and it was discovered that the seal was intact. Around 10:30 am on 10.05.2014, the guard namely Ajay Pal notified the Revisionist that the locks of the Conference Hall had been broken. Upon inspection, the Revisionist found that the lock on the glass gate was broken, but the lock of the Conference Hall was intact. Using his keys, the Revisionist opened the lock of the Conference Hall and discovered that the lock on the gate inside the Conference Hall had been broken, and the seized goods were stolen. The matter was immediately reported to the Commissioner of Sales Tax, and the police was called. On the complaint of the Revisionist, FIR No. 183/2014 was registered u/s 454 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code at P.S. I.P. Estate. v. On 17.05.2014, one of the guards namely Pitamber Mehto allegedly committed suicide. In his suicide note, he accused the Revisionist and other officials of theft of the seized goods and held them accountable for his death. Thereafter, Priya Mehto, the deceased guard's daughter, filed a complaint with the Station House Officer (SHO) at P.S. Ranhola, New Delhi. vi. On 19.09.2014, the Crime Scene Report was submitted by the FSL. According to the report, it was suggested that the door of the room connected to the Conference Hall, where the seized goods were stored, might have been broken using a tool with a flat tip, approximately 9 cm in width. However, on the contrary, the FSL Report dated 20.02.2015 stated that the lock of the Conference Hall had been opened using the original keys only. vii. On 20.10.2015, the statement of Puran Chand, one of the guards deployed for the protection of the seized goods was recorded wherein he had disclosed that the incident of theft occurred on 09.05.2014. However, he did not provide any explanation as to why the incident was not reported to the police. Subsequently on 07.12.2015, the police arrested the Revisionist and remanded him to Police Custody. viii. On 03.03.2016, a chargesheet was filed u/s 13(1)(c) of Prevention of Corruption Act (hereinafter referred to as “P.C. Act”) and section 409 IPC against the Revisionist. On 15.03.2019, sanction was granted by the sanctioning authority u/s 19 of P.C. Act against the Revisionist u/s 7 r/w section 7A of P.C. Act and section 120B IPC. The chargesheet was filed on 03.03.2016 u/s 13(1)(c) of P.C. Act r/w section 409 IPC. ix. On 09.03.2022, the learned Special Judge (PC Act), Rouse Avenue was pleased to frame charges u/s 409 IPC and section 13(1)(c) of P.C. Act against the Revisionist. This order has been challenged in the present revision petition.
3. It is submitted by Ms. Geeta Luthra, learned senior counsel for the Revisionist that the impugned order is grossly erroneous since the charges against the Revisionist have been arbitrarily framed without any application of judicial mind. It is argued that the sanction order dated 15.03.2019 does not mention the offences for which the Revisionist has been charged.
4. She submits that section 19 of the P.C. Act requiring prior sanction is necessary for prosecution as it is important to ensure that no frivolous and false prosecution is framed against the public servant. She states that the offences under the sanction order are distinct from the offences under the chargesheet. It is stated that the sanction order was granted for section 7 of P.C. Act and section 120B IPC r/w 7 and 7A of the P.C. Act (as amended in
2018) whereas as per the chargesheet, the Revisionist has been chargesheeted u/s 13 (1) (c) of P.C. Act and section 409 IPC and charges have also been framed under the same sections.
5. In this regard, she has relied upon the judgement of “Gadhia Bhanuchandra Vallabhadas v. State” [MANU/GJ/0055/1953] which reads as under- “7…No doubt evidence can be adduced under the Sub-section in respect of a specific charge under any of the clauses of Section 5(1), but in order that an accused can be tried on that specific charge a sanction has to be given at the, outset. The rule in Sub-section (3) has nothing to do with sanction and this contention of the learned Advocate General must therefore fail. 8… Now here the defect is really not one of stating the facts constituting the offence. The facts in so far as they relate to the sum of Rs. 5700/- are sufficiently stated. What is lacking is that the sanction does not relate to other offences at all. In fact the sanction relates to this particular offence and none other and no question of the inadequacy of facts constituting those other offences therefore really arises in this case. Therefore the position, is that there is no sanction at all in respect of the charges on counts 1 and 4 the charge, and the trial is therefore without jurisdiction.”
6. She further states that the sections under which the sanction has been granted and under which the Revisionist has been charged are distinct offences and have separate ingredients. She draws a comparison:- Sec. 7 & 7A PC Act r/w 120B (for which sanction has been granted) Sec. 13 PC Act & 409 IPC (under which revisionist has been charged)
7. Public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act.- (imprisonment which shall be not less than six months but which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine.) 7A. Taking undue advantage to influence public servant by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of personal influence.- '(imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to years, and shall also be liable to fine)
13. Criminal misconduct by a public servant.- (1) A public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct,-
(c) if he dishonestly or fraudulently misappropriates or otherwise converts for his own use any property entrusted to him or under his control as a public servant or allows any other person so to do; (2) Any public servant who commits criminal misconduct shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than one year but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
409. Criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent.- (imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine) 120B. Punishment of criminal conspiracy.- (1) Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death, [imprisonment for life] or rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years or upwards, shall, where no express provision is made in this Code for the punishment of such a conspiracy, be punished in the same manner as if he had abetted such offence. (2) Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months, or with fine or with both.]
7. Ms. Luthra further states that the sanctioning authority cannot review or reconsider its decision per se on the same materials in absence of sanction. To support her argument, she has placed reliance upon “State of Himachal Pradesh v. Nishant Sareen” [(2010) 14 SCC 527], and more particularly para 12 and 13 which read as under-
8. She has also relied upon “Ashok Shankarrao Chavan v. Vidyasagar Rao” [2017 SCC OnLine Bom 9434] to urge the same contention.
9. As regards the merits of the sanction order are concerned, it is stated by learned senior counsel that there are discrepancies in the alleged suicide note of the deceased Pitamber Mehto since the suicide note and the complaint made by the daughter of the deceased both mentions the name of the Revisionist as “Om Karan” and not “Hom Karan”. It is further stated that there has to be a proximate link between the occurrence and the subsequent suicide to constitute an offence, mere mention of the name in the suicide note is not to be treated as gospel truth until the ingredients of the offence are made out. Additionally, the deceased was not well versed with reading and writing and even as per the FSL Report dated 28.04.2017, no definite opinion was formed as to whether the handwriting on the suicide note was that of the deceased.
10. Ms. Luthra states that there is no shred of evidence against the Revisionist. As per the statement of Puran Chand dated 20.10.2015, he states that after locking the Conference Hall, he used to handover the keys to the caretaker namely Rajender Prasad. Thereafter, as per his statement dated 16.12.2015 u/s 164 CrPC, he stated that on 09.05.2014, the keys of the Conference Hall were stolen, whereas the theft took place on 10.05.2014. She further states that Sh. Jogender Singh, Asst. Commissioner who had conducted the raid with the Revisionist has never been taken as a suspect by the prosecution and also no evidence was found against the guards/member of Inventory Team since Ajay Pal and Ajay Arora were declared medically unfit for nacro-analysis and there was no fruitful lead from the brain finger printing test conducted on Ajay Pal and Ajay Arora.
11. Learned senior counsel for the Revisionist submits that factum of exclusive possession is sine qua non for section 409 IPC. She submits that before imposition of section 409 IPC, two essential ingredients must be fulfilled, i.e a) the factum of entrustment and b) the factum of the entrusted articles. She further submits that in the present case, section 409 IPC cannot be invoked keeping in view both the statements of Puran Chand dated 09.05.2014 and 20.10.2015. She relies upon the judgement of “Maheswar Seth v. Republic of India”[2017 SCC OnLine Ori 564] and more particularly para 27 and 28 which reads as under-
12. It is stated by Ms. Luthra that the Revisionist was taken into 6 days police custody, however, no recovery has been made either from the Revisionist or from his premises or relatives. She states that mere retention of property entrusted to a person without any misappropriation cannot fall within the ambit of criminal breach of trust, unless there is some actual use by the accused in violation of law or contract, coupled with dishonest intention. Additionally, the seized goods were also retained by Sh. Jogender Singh and his team, who along with the Revisionist had conducted the raid, however neither their statements have been recorded nor any action has been taken against them.
13. Furthermore, learned senior counsel for the Revisionist submits that the incident of theft took place due to the ill support system and lack of infrastructure with no CCTV cameras and armed guards.
14. Mr. Singh, learned APP for the State submits that in the present case, the distinction of offences in the sanction order and the chargesheet have not resulted in the failure of justice. He has placed reliance upon the judgement of the Allahabad High Court titled as “Dr. Abhai Ranjan v State of U.P and Another” [2021:AHC:171668] to support his arguments.
15. He further submits that only the irregularities in sanction orders which have resulted in failure of justice can be said to be bad in law. He states that the sanctioning authority had rightly applied its mind and has also considered relevant documents in this regard.
16. I have heard learned counsel for the parties.
17. In the present case, the first aspect to be dealt with is whether the impugned order framing charge u/s 13(1)(c) of P.C Act and section 409 IPC can be sustained, keeping in view the sanction order lacking those sections.
18. The relevant portion of the sanction order dated 15.03.2019 reads as under- “AND WHEREAS, after carefully examining the above mentioned record, the undersigned being the authority competent to remove the said Sh. Hom Karan, Assistant Commissioner, Trade and Taxes Department, Government of NCT of Delhi from his office, has reached to the conclusion that there are sufficient material available for prosecuting Sh. Hom Karan, Assistant Commissioner, Trade and Taxes Department, Government of NCT of Delhi under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 120B read with Section 7 and 7A of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) since above-mentioned facts and circumstances prima facie constitute the offence committed by Sh. Hom Karan, Assistant Commissioner.”
19. The relevant portion of the order framing charge reads as under-
20. Section 19 of P.C. Act deals with the necessity of a prior sanction order. The Supreme Court in “Manzoor Ali Khan v. Union of India” [(2015) 2 SCC 33] enumerated the reason for obtaining prior sanction. It opined that- “13… A fine balance has to be maintained between need to protect a public servant against mala fide prosecution on the one hand and the object of upholding the probity in public life in prosecuting the public servant against whom prima facie material in support of allegation of corruption exists, on the other hand.”
21. The purpose of taking prior sanction is thus to strike an equilibrium between safeguarding public servants from baseless or malicious prosecutions on one hand and ensuring accountability for public servants involved in corruption on the other. It aims to prevent frivolous legal actions against public servants, while also addressing allegations of corruption and ensuring honest and corruption free conduct in public service. A prior sanction serves as a mechanism to carefully navigate the interests of bothprotecting innocent public servants and holding corrupt officials accountable when credible and sufficient evidence exists against them.
22. I am in respectful agreement with the judgement of “Dr. Abhai Ranjan v State of U.P and Another” (supra), wherein it was observed that- “26…In this judgment, reliance has been placed on a judgment of Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Dinesh Kumar v. Chairman, Airport Authority of India and another, (2011) 4 SCC 402 where after referring the judgment of Prakash Singh Badal and another v. State of Punjab and others, (2007) 1 SCC, it has been opined that there is difference between absence of sanction and validity of sanction. The issue regarding absence of sanction can be raised at the inception by the aggrieved person, however, where the sanction order exists, the issue regarding its validity has to be raised only during course of trial. Relevant paragraphs of Dinesh Kumar’s case (supra) are being extracted herein below:
26. The learned Special Judge has correctly observed that the goods were in exclusive possession of the Revisionist. The relevant para of the order framing charge reads as under-
27. In this view of the matter, prima facie, the exclusive possession of the goods with the Revisionist is established and the ingredients of section 409 IPC are made out.
28. The other contention which was raised is that there are material contradictions in the statements of Puran Chand dated 20.10.2015 and 16.12.2015 where on one hand, it is stated that the keys of the conference hall were given to the caretaker and on the other hand, it is stated that the keys of the conference hall were stolen. These contradictions can always be put to the witness at the time of cross examination. At present, the order under challenge is at the stage of framing of charge. The Supreme Court in “State of Rajasthan v. Ashok Kumar Kashyap” [(2021) 11 SCC 191] has stated that the Court, at the time of framing charge, is not to hold a mini trial or go into the merits/details of the case.
29. The Court, at the time of framing of charge, is only required to sift and weigh the evidence and take a prima facie view on framing of charge by looking into the materials placed before it. In “Ghulam Hassan Beigh v. Mohd. Maqbool Magrey” [(2022) 12 SCC 657], the Supreme Court opined that-
30. Hence, I do not find any merit in this argument and the same is rejected as the learned Special Judge has correctly sifted and weighed the prima facie material.
31. It is further argued by the learned senior counsel that there is discrepancy in the suicide note of Pitamber Mehto. The discrepancy which has been pointed out in the present case is that the name of the Revisionist has been written as “Om Karan” instead of “Hom Karan”. I am of the view that the discrepancy in the suicide note is not germane to the issue in the controversy in the present petition. Additionally, this discrepancy is of a minor character and does not call into question the veracity of the suicide note.
32. I am of the view that the learned Special Judge has correctly appreciated the facts in issue and the law on the subject. I see no reason to interfere with the impugned order dated 09.03.2022 passed by the learned Special Judge, PC Act (ACB-O[1]) RADC, New Delhi inC.C.No.289/2019, FIR No.183/2014, U/s. 13.1(c) POC Act and Section 409 of IPC, P.S. I.P. Estate, titled "State Vs. Hom Karan”.
33. Hence, the petition is dismissed.