SURINDER SINGH AHLUWALIA Vs. DELHI SPECIAL POLICE ESTABLISHMENT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this writ petition, the petitioner Shri Surinder Singh Ahiuwalia, at present the Chief Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, seeks to quash the FIR No. RC-1/ 87-ACU(1) dated 24-3-1987 registered by Delhi Special Police Establishment under Section 5(2) read lal Sec. 5(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and the investigation pursuant to the said First Information Report.

(2.) We may state a few relevant facts leading to the present writ petition. The petitioner was commissioned on 3-5-1964 as an Emergency Commission Officer in the Army when he was officiating Captain in the Army, be appeared in the Indian Administrative Service and other Central Government Services Competitive Examination held in 1968 by the Union Public Service Commission. The petitioner was inducted in the Indian Administrative Service Cadre having regard to his order of merit, and was allocated to the State of Nagaland. From 1971 to 1987, the petitioner served in various capacities as under:-

(3.) On 4-12-1986, the Chief Minister Shri Hokisha Sema wrote a D.O. letter (Annexure A-l) to Shri P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of State for Home, regarding the questionable conduct relating to extortion of businessmen of Dimapur and transaction related to a hand loan of Rs. 60,000 and involvement in shoddy gunny bags transaction and in the conduct of State lotteries in the capacity as the Director of State lotteries. It was stated by him that Shri Ahluwalia is reported to have acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, some of such are, Air-conditioned cinema house in Agra, valuable residential property in F-5, South Extension Part II, New Delhi, in the name of Mrs. Kamaljit Walia and another residential property in W-7. Greater Kailash Part I, New Delhi and some landed property in Gwalior and Chandigarh. It was also stated that in this regard a Memorandum no. 500724 dated 13-2-1985 from the Prime Minister's Office alleging corrupt practices by Shri Ahiuwalia did not evoke requisite response by predecessor Government, it was further stated in the letter that the Government of Nagaland does not have proper machinery to conduct thorough investigation into all the ramifications of the case, comprehensive enquiry by a well reputed investigative agency like the CBI is, therefore, absolutely necessary and the State Government, therefore, conveys its consent for investigation by the CBI. The letter was accompanied by the names and addresses of Nagaland lottery agents and also a note relating to the petitioner serving as Financial Commissioner of Nagaland at that time.