Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 21: High Court has quashed FIRs registered by the Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau against B S Dua and J S Dua, former Managing Directors of SICOP.
The FIRs were registered with Police Station, Anti Corruption Bureau, Jammu for offences under Section 5(1) (d) read with Section 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B RPC on the basis of verification which revealed that Jasvinder Singh Dua had a sudden meteoric rise—within a span of 16 years of his service career he rose to the post of MD SICOP.
The ACB also mentioned in the FIR that Jasvinder Singh Dua had initially been appointed in SICOP as JE on 15.01.1998 for a period of three months with the approval of the then MD SICOP A K Khullar. After approximately three years his service as JE was regularized by the then MD illegally and under pre-designed conspiracy hatched with B S Dua, then GM SICOP who happened to be uncle of the beneficiary.
Senior Advocates Abhinav Sharma and K S Johal appearing for the petitioners, while challenging the impugned FIRs, submitted that the FIR has been registered without any justification as a tool to cause, damage and harm to Bopinder Singh Dua besides the petitioner.
“Moreover, the petitioner J S Dua has been singled out in the matter of registration of impugned FIR when numerous employees had been appointed in the SICOP and various other Government Corporations and Companies initially on adhoc basis, subsequently regularized and promoted as well”, they added.
After hearing both the sides, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani observed, “the facts emerging from the record indisputably tends to show that the petitioner- Jasvinder Singh got appointed in SICOP initially on adhoc basis and subsequently got regularized and promoted from time to time like other appointees in the SICOP, incidentally during the working of his uncle petitioner-Bopinder Singh Dua in the SICOP”.
“Fact also remains that the appointment and regularization of the petitioner- Jasvinder Singh in SICOP had been made by the officer other than petitioner Bopinder Singh Dua— by the then Managing Director who had made such appointment and regularization on the same lines the other Managing Directors had made in the SICOP from time to time”, High Court said, adding “it is also not in dispute that none of the appointments in the SICOP during that relevant point of time had been made in tune with the constitutional mandate i.e., by advertising the posts”.
“The mode and procedure adopted and followed in the SICOP in the matter of making appointments had indeed been irregular, yet it cannot be lost sight of that the appointment of the petitioner – Jasvinder Singh was not such a solitary case”, High Court said, adding “the necessary ingredients of dishonest intention in making such appointment of the petitioner-Jasvinder Singh or his regularization as well promotions is manifestly not traceable, having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, even if it may be assumed for the sake of arguments that the appointment and regularization of the petitioner had been made by misusing the positions by the then Managing Director”.
The High Court further said, “the promotions earned by Jasvinder Singh however, admittedly have been made upon the recommendations of Departmental Promotion Committee and not individually by the Managing Director in league with the petitioner-Bopinder Singh Dua as is alleged”, adding “no material or evidence worth the name seemingly is available on the record in the CD file prima facie disclosing the commission of the offences alleged against the petitioners under Section 5(1) (d) read with Section 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act”.
Stating that neither the impugned FIR nor the record tend to show that the commission of offence of criminal conspiracy by the petitioners, High Court quashed the impugned FIRs.
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