Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has quashed an FIR, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had registered against former Managing Director (MD) J&K Small Scale Industries Development Corporation ( SICOP)
Bhupinder Singh Dua, for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets.
As per the case, Dua after working as MD, SICOP, retired upon attaining the age of Superannuation, in November, 2012.
An FIR (10/1997) was registered against the petitioner by the then vigilance Organization when Dua was in service for allegedly having accumulated assets disproportionate to his known source of income.
The FIR is stated to have been closed after conducting investigation therein ‘As Not Proved’ followed by filing of ‘closure report’ before the Court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Jammu, and accepted by the said Court on April 17, 2000.
However, the FIR for commission of offence under Section 5(1)(e) read with section 5(2) of the Act of 2006, was registered against the petitioner after seven years of his retirement on similar allegations. After hearing Senior Advocates Sunil Sethi and Parimoksh Seth on behalf of the petitioner, and Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli for the government, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani said : “ Insofar as exercise of inherent powers enshrined under Section 482 Cr.P.C is concerned, law is settled and is no more res-integra that in exercise of the wholesome power vested in the High Courts under Section 82 Cr.P.C, the High Court is entitled to quash a proceeding, if it comes to the conclusion that allowing the proceedings to continue would be an abuse of process of the Court or that the ends of justice require that the proceedings ought to be quashed”.
With regard to the judgment cited by the respondents ( authorities), the court said: “The submissions made by counsel for the respondents inasmuch as judgment cited in support of the said submissions do not lend any support to the case of the respondent and by no sense of imagination, can said to be potent enough to dislodge the case set up by the petitioner”.
“For what has been observed considered and analysed, the exercise of inherent jurisdiction enshrined under Section 482 CrPC is held to be warranted,” the court said. It , accordingly, allowed the petition and quashed the FIR against the ex-director SIDCO. In his plea, the petitioner had sought to quash FIR (No. 25/2019) dated 23rd October 2019 registered with Police Station ACB Jammu for commission of offence under Section 5(1)(e) read with Section 5(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006 including the consequent proceedings.