GEETA RAM NAUTIYAL Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Social Justice is recognized by the Preamble of the Constitution of India. The provision of Social Justice is also made in Clause (4) of Article 15 of the Constitution of India. This Clause prescribes, protection and safeguards of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Clause (4) of Article 15 makes a special application of the principle of reasonable classification. Under this Clause, the State is empowered to make special provisions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The State of Uttarakhand issued Government Order dated 28.06.2006 and Government Order dated 25.07.2006, whereby the process of scholarship had been fixed to be given by the Department of Social Welfare to the students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Minority Classes.

(2.) One Shri Rajkumar had complained to various constitutional and other authorities on 19.12.2015 in respect of illegality and irregularity in distributing these scholarships to students of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes by various private Institutions in collusion with the persons of the Department of Social Welfare. A Special Investigation Team (SIT, for short), headed by the 4th respondent, had been constituted by the State Government. The SIT enquired into the matter and, after enquiry the 3rd respondent, In-charge Inspector/a member of SIT, lodged a First Information Report on 01.12.2018 at Police Station SIDCUL, District Haridwar, stating that the SIT was constituted for enquiry against various self-funded educational Institutions with regard to embezzlement of scholarship funds. During enquiry, the documents which had been received from different sources were thoroughly perused. In the first instance, it was found that various self-financed educational institutions had misused the State exchequer for their own benefit, and for the purpose of harming the Government. The distribution of scholarship to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes had been illegally shown by various institutions. These various self-financed educational institutions had not provided the scholarship, obtained from the State of Uttarakhand, to the actual beneficiaries, i.e. the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes students. They used the said scholarship fund for their own use. The following irregularities were found :-

(3.) Writ Petition (PIL) No. 228 of 2018 was filed before the Division Bench of this Court seeking a writ of mandamus to appoint the CBI, or to initiate a judicial enquiry, for taking appropriate action in accordance with law and to also monitor and supervise the entire investigation in this scholarship scam, involving various education institutions in the State of Uttarakhand, which had resulted in several hundred crores of rupees of public funds, meant to be paid as scholarship to the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe students, being swindled by these institutions and they, along with brokers and touts, had siphoned-off several hundred crores of rupees earmarked as scholarship for these socially and educationally backward class students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes category, and the entire issue was now sought to be hushed up by senior bureaucrats and ministers in the State Government. The Division Bench of this Court had noted the contents of the report of the Additional Secretary, Social Welfare Department dated 27.03.2017, which disclosed that even on a random sampling, for the years 2011- 2012 to 2014-2015, of the scholarship amounts paid to the Scheduled Caste students, in the two districts of Dehradun and Haridwar, serious financial irregularities had come to light, and it was necessary for a detailed enquiry to be caused, on this extremely serious issue, by a High Power Committee. The Chief Minister of the State had, in April, 2017, directed an enquiry to be caused by the SIT. The Division Bench, while observing that no investigation had commenced for more than 20 months from April, 2017 till the date of lodging FIR No.0496 on 01.12.2018 requested the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand to examine the issue and submit his report to the Court. The Division Bench also noted the submission of the in-charge of the SIT that, despite several letters having been addressed by him to the District Social Welfare Department and Joint Director, no response was forthcoming necessitating his having to register an FIR based on the documents received from the private individuals examined by him. While expressing its suspicion that attempts were being made, by certain officials of the Social Welfare Department, to stonewall a probe into these grave and serious allegations of misappropriation of public funds, the Division Bench had observed that non-cooperation by the Social Welfare Department was a matter of grave and serious concern, since the very purpose of constituting the SIT, to investigate into this scam of monumental proportions, would be defeated thereby. The Division Bench, after taking note of the attempts made by the Government to change Dr. T.C. Manjunath as the Chairman of the SIT, opined that the change in the SIT was only to stonewall a probe into the grave and serious allegations of misuse and misappropriation of public funds. The SIT, headed by Dr. Manjunath, Superintendent of Police, was directed to continue with its investigation and the concerned officials in the Social Welfare Department and elsewhere in the Government of Uttarakhand, as also the private institutions, were directed to extend full co- operation to the investigation being caused by the SIT, and not to cause any hindrance thereto. In the said PIL, the Division Bench had further observed that the investigation, directed to be caused into this scam allegedly running into several hundred crores, did not brook delay; amounts, meant to be paid as scholarship to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, were allegedly misappropriated by the college management, middlemen, and some government officials; the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes students belonging to the State of Uttarakhand, and studying in several private colleges both within the State of Uttarakhand and in five other States, were deprived of the scholarship to which they were entitled to; copies of the agreements, placed on record, indicated that the loot was agreed to be shared, in the ratio of 60:40, between the colleges and the middlemen; and the lack of progress in investigation, into such a grave and serious matter, was disconcerting.