Recently, a Delhi court has convicted former Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Assistant Engineer Vijay Kumar Jain for intentionally retaining case files relating to unauthorised constructions in violation of judicial directions, in a matter registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) nearly two decades ago.
The prosecution established that in July 2004, the MCD initiated proceedings against the owners of 15 properties in West Punjabi Bagh for unauthorised construction. Orders had been passed to issue demolition notices for 12 of these properties, while demolition orders were already in place for the remaining three. Despite this, Jain, then the area’s Assistant Engineer, withheld the case files, effectively stalling any enforcement action.
In an order, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg held that Jain’s conduct was deliberate and in breach of the law, noting that his actions directly contravened the direction of the Delhi High Court, which had mandated the MCD to act against the properties and file a compliance report within four months.
"It can be concluded that accused V.K. Jain intentionally retained the subject 15 files with him… despite knowing that orders were passed for issuing demolition notices… and that demolition orders were passed for the remaining properties," the court observed, adding that sufficient evidence had been adduced to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Jain was accordingly convicted under Section 217 of the Indian Penal Code.
While rejecting the defence argument that the CBI had improperly invoked the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) to bypass procedural requirements for investigating a non-cognisable offence, the magistrate referred to the agency’s preliminary enquiry report, which specifically recorded allegations of criminal misconduct and abuse of position to confer undue favour upon the property owners. The court noted that other MCD officials and the 15 owners were also arrayed as accused in the FIR, and held that the registration of the case under PC Act provisions was not a deliberate misuse of the law.
Although the CBI had initially booked Jain under provisions of the PC Act and for criminal conspiracy, the court framed charges against him under Section 217 IPC in July 2018. The case will now proceed to the sentencing stage, with arguments scheduled to be heard today.
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