VIDYA BHUSHAN SHARDA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) VIDYA Bhushan Sharda, Retired Tehsildar, Ram Parkash Sehgal Naib Tehsildar and Chaman Lal, Patwari by means this petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seek quashing of FIR No. 27 dated March 2, 1988 registered at police station Industrial Area, Ludhiana.

(2.) BRIEF facts on which the prosecution of the petitioners had been launched may be enumerated :-

(3.) THE learned counsel has urged that though the offence is said to have taken place on August 27, 1984, the FIR was registered only on March 2, 1988 and the prosecution had been lodged in the year 1990. He thus, claims that on account of this inordinate delay in initiation of the prosecution the FIR should be quashed. I am however unable to endorse this argument of the learned counsel. In a case like the present where an illegal act is done by a public servant by accepting illegal gratification the authorities normally acquire information at a much later stage. Though Subhash Chander had filed the affidavit on February 28, 1986, the authorities had to verify if the allegations made in the affidavit carried some truth and it was only after enquiries that a criminal case was got registered. This delay cannot be considered to be fatal to the prosecution and the FIR cannot be quashed on that basis.