PRABHU CHAWLA Vs. A U SHERIFF

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is filed for setting aside the order dated 14-12-1992 passed in Criminal Case No. 15178 of 1992 on the file of the VI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bangalore City ordering registration of the case against the petitioners and two others for offence punishable under Section 500 read with Section 34, IPC and directing process against them for their appearance before the Court and to quash the entire proceedings against the petitioners.

(2.) The respondent Sri A.U. Sheriff performed the marriage of his niece Reshma Sheriff with one Syed Manzoor Ahmed, son of Janab Syed Ibrahim Saheb, Proprietor: Master Travels, Bangalore on Sunday the 14th June, 1992 in Chandrasagar Marriage Hall, Jayanagar, Bangalore and that in that connection he had printed and issued marriage invitations in which it was printed as under: "With Best Compliments from Honourable Minister for Railways, Alhaj C.K. Jaffer Sheriff and his family". Thereafter in the Indian Express News Paper dated 24th July, 1992 published from Bangalore an Article by Ashwini Sarin, the 4th petitioner in the petition reading as under was printed and published. "By Ashwini Sarin, New Delhi Rs. 600 crore deal as dowry? It may seem incredible but that is what Union Railway Minister C.K. Jaffer Sheriff has apparently done. Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation is looking into the leakage of top secret Government documents regarding the purchase of 6000 horse power electric locomotives from Asea Brown Boveri, starting details about the murky deals have begun to surface. The $ 190 million contract was finally decided by the Railway Ministry in favour of Swiss multinational Asea Brown Boveri early this year after the Railway Minister hastened the award of the contract despite serious objections raised earlier by the Tenders Committee of his Ministry, the Department of Economic Affairs and even the Committee of Secretaries. Mr. Sheriff seems to have mastered the art of mixing family interest with official work. His niece, Reshma Sheriff, was married to Syed Manzoor Ahmed on June 14. As it happens, the bridegroom is employed with the Riyadh-based Arabian Electrical Industries Limited, being run in co-operation with the Asea Brown Boveri. The bridegroom's boss came all the way from Riyadh to Bangalore to attend the marriage. According to highly placed sources, Mr. Sheriff was keen to visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia towards the end of June but the visit was scuttled when the Prime Minister, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, turned down the proposal and advised the Railway Minister to postpone his visit. The Prime Minister, had, in fact, acted on advice from top intelligence agencies which had submitted a detailed report on the award of the locomotive contract to ABB. Indian Railways had been deliberating the purchase of high horse power electric locomotives for a long time and among the main contenders for the deal were Asea Brown Boveri and Hitachi of Japan in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited. However, Mr. Sheriffs interest in the deal began to show, sources said, ever since his niece's marriage proposal reached its final stage. The contract to ABB and the marriage seem to have been finalised around the same period. The opposition did raise the issue of ABB deal in the Rajya Sabha during its last session but to no avail. Mr. Sheriff adopted a stonewalling attitude and refused to answer the opposition's specific queries about the controversial deal. In any case, the Rajya Sabha debate took place on the last day of the session. The matter is yet to be taken up in the Lok Sabha. The $190 million locomotive contract had been embroiled in controversy from the very beginning. But the undue haste which Mr. Sheriff showed to finalise the deal in favour of ABB by ignoring the earlier recommendations of the Tenders Committee of his own Ministry has raised doubts about the deal being above board. Mr. Sheriff himself has been meeting a large number of opposition MPs individually these days in an attempt to convince them that there is nothing "unfair in the deal". Investigations have revealed that Mr. Sheriff was not alone in pushing the ABB case. A detailed note was prepared on February 7, 1992, by Mr. Sudhir Kumar, Director, Asian Development Bank (ADB) division in the Government, following the appointment of a committee of secretaries by the Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on January 7 to review the Railway Ministry's decision to award the contract to ABB. The note had recommended the award to BHEL which had made the "lowest" bid. However, the contract went to ABB, as Mr. Sudhir Kumar noted, "since it is in the nature of the Government decision making that assessment of the superior authority is to prevail". On February 10 just three days later the meeting of the secretaries' committee, chaired by Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Secretary, Economic Affairs, decided that ABB offer "has to be accepted" because it was technically correct". BHEL was not considered because detailed information on domestic value addition was not available. Repeated attempts to contact Mr. Sheriff failed. However, inquiries made with the family of Mr. A.U. Sheriff, a cousin of the Minister, who had sent the invitation cards for their niece Reshma's marriage in Bangalore on June 14, revealed that Reshma is the daughter of Mr. Jaffer Sheriffs younger sister. The Railway Minister had taken "active interest and responsibilities" in the marriage.

(3.) In the Indian Express issue of Wednesday, July 29th, 1992 another Article reading as under came to be published.