A division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Manoj K. Tiwari of Uttarakhand HC dismissed the writ petition in a case where the petitioner was allegedly trapped red handed while taking a bribe.
The ground that the once the sanctioning authority denied the prosecution then after the review of the said charges the prosecution cannot me attributed on the petitioner was rejected by this court.
In view of this court, merely because sanction was earlier declined by the then President of the Board of Revenue, is no ground to assail the grant of sanction after review by respondent no. 2.
Facts:
The present writ petition had been preferred by the petitioner to assail the order dated 23.9.2020, passed by the respondent no. 2 i.e. the Board of Revenue, Uttarakhand, whereby sanction had been accorded for prosecution of the petitioner under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The petitioner was allegedly trapped red-handed in a trap case, while allegedly receiving bribe.
The submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner was that on an earlier occasion, sanction to prosecute the petitioner under Section 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act was denied by the sanctioning authority.
However, on reconsideration, the same had been granted by the impugned order. The petitioner had been trapped, allegedly, accepting bribe of rupees ten thousand, on the basis of which a case was registered by PS Vigilance Sector, Dehradun bearing FIR No. 05/2019 under Section 7(A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The chargesheet was also filed, whereafter cognizance was taken by the Special Judge (Vigilance, CBCID and Police), Garhwal Division, Dehradun.
Observations of the Court
This Court observed that the then President of respondent no. 2 (Board of Revenue), vide order dated 4.2.2020, returned the finding that it is not a fit case for grant of sanction of prosecution. However, on 23.9.2020, the State Government directed respondent no. 2 to review the matter of sanction. Thereafter, the matter was again considered by the Board of Revenue, and the impugned order had been passed.
In the view of this court, merely because sanction was earlier declined by the then President of the Board of Revenue, is no ground to assail the grant of sanction after review by respondent no. 2. The petitioner was found allegedly involved in a trap case, and the chargesheet also stood filed before the Court of Special Judge. Therefore, the writ petition was dismissed being devoid of any merit.
Decision:
The writ petition was dismissed being devoid of any merit as the court held that merely because sanction was earlier declined by the then President of the Board of Revenue, is no ground to assail the grant of sanction after review
Case: Chandan Singh Rana vs State of Uttarakhand
Citation: WPSB No. 84 of 2022
Coram: Justice Vipin Sanghi and Manoj K. Tiwari
Dated: 01.12.2022
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