SANDEEP SILAS Vs. CBI & ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This batch of four petitions under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 has been filed by two senior officers of the Indian Railways. Crl.M.C. No.3137/2017 and Crl.M.C. No.3141/2017 assail identical but separate sanction orders dated 14.03.2017 passed by the Minister of Railways, granting approval for the petitioners' prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as "PC Act") as also the consequential order dated 01.07.2017 passed by the learned Trial Court taking cognizance against them. Crl.M.C. No.5094/2017 and Crl.M.C. No.5095/2017 impugn the order dated 08.05.2017, whereby the learned Trial Court has rejected the petitioners' application seeking a direction to the Sanctioning Authority to refer the matter regarding grant of sanction for their prosecution to the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India (hereinafter referred to as "DoPT") for a final decision, in compliance of the DoPT's OMs dated 15/17.10.1986, 06.11.2006 and 20.12.2006. For the sake of convenience, only the facts of Crl.M.C. No.3137/2017 are being referred to hereinbelow.

(2.) The petitioner who is a senior government official working with the Indian Railways, was holding the post of Chief Commercial Manager (Catering), Northern Railways (hereinafter referred to as "CCM (Catering)") w.e.f. 25/26.05.2014 against Leave Vacancy. Based on a joint surprise check conducted on 22.08.2014 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter referred to as "CBI") in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Trains, a FIR bearing no. RC-DAI-2015-A0032 was registered u/s 120B r/w section 420 of the IPC and section 13(2) r/w section 13(1)(d) of the PC Act against the petitioners and various other private caterers. Immediately after the registration of the FIR on 14.10.2015, the petitioners were suspended from service w.e.f. 16.10.2015.

(3.) As per the allegations in the FIR, various licensee caterers appointed by the Indian Railways had been violating the mandatory terms and conditions of the license agreement executed between them and the Indian Railways for the supply of meals and Packaged Drinking Water (hereinafter referred to as "PDW") to passengers. It is alleged that instead of providing Rail Neer, the own brand of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "IRCTC"), the licensee caterers were supplying other brands of PDW to the passengers, thereby causing huge losses to the Indian Railways and corresponding gains to themselves. The specific role attributed to the petitioners is that, despite being aware of the default on the part of the licensee caterers, they did not take punitive action against them and, on the other hand, continued to release payments to them even though they had breached the terms of the license agreement.