G.S. RAHI Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks quashment of the criminal proceedings under FIR No./Crime No.39/2012 registered at Police Station Jashpur, District Jashpurnagar against the petitioner and 5 other accused persons for offences under Sections 420 and 409/34 of the IPC.

(2.) Allegations against the accused persons, as appearing in the FIR lodged by the Project Administrator, Integrated Tribal Development Project, District Jashpur, are that the Executive Engineer, Rural Engineering Service, Division Jashpur was appointed as executing agency for the construction of culvert at village Salhekera Block, Jashpurnagar and was allotted Rs.49.05 lakhs for the said construction work. On direction of Collector, Jashpur, a joint inspection team consisting of Executive Engineer, PWD, Jashpur; Executive Engineer, Water Resources Department, Jashpur and Executive Engineer, PMGSY, Jashpur was constituted for inspection/enquiry of the work executed. The report submitted by the said committee, on the basis of evidence of technical nature collected during investigation, concluded that a sum of Rs.23.99 lakhs has been misappropriated/embezzled and the State Government has suffered loss to the said extent. The report further concluded that 2 Sub Engineers of Rural Engineering Service (for short 'RES') Division, Jashpurnagar namely, DL Sonwani and RA Nikunj, 3 Sub Divisional Officer, RES Division Jashpur namely, LS Saxena, SK Asati and HK Vishwakarma and the present petitioner, Executing Engineer, RES Division, Jashpur are involved in the said misappropriation/embezzlement.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that no offence is made out against the petitioner; charge sheet cannot be filed and the petitioner cannot be prosecuted without obtaining sanction under Section 197 CrPC, therefore, the FIR deserves to be quashed. He would rely on judgments in the matters of Mohan Raj Vs. Dimbeswari Saikia & Anr., 2007 CrLJ 52, H.S. Gotla Vs. State, 2001 CrLJ 2695, Vishnu Kondaji Jadhav Vs. State of Maharashtra, 1994 CrLJ 1579 , State of Orissa and others Vs. Ganesh Chandra Jew, 2004 CrLJ 2011 , State of Maharashtra through CBI Vs. Mahesh G. Jain, 2013 CrLJ 3092 , Jayprakash Pandya Vs. State of Gujarat & Anr., 2013 CrLJ 4101 , Fakhruzamma Vs. State of Jharkhand & Anr., 2014 CrLJ 681, CBI Vs. Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, 2014 CrLJ 930 , Trilochan Baral Vs. Bankanidhi Mahapatra & another, 2014 CrLJ 1930 , M.L. Shankhla & others Vs. State of Rajasthan & another, 2014 CrLJ 2458, Sarat Chandra Rath & Others Vs. Malti Tandi, 2014 CrLJ 3758 and V. Venkata Subbarao Vs. State represented by Inspector of Police, AP, 2006 13 SCC 305 .