A court here acquitted nine persons in a fake appointment case registered by the Vigilance Organization Kashmir 18 years ago.
The court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption Srinagar, R NWatal, acquitted nine persons including a former Zonal Education OfficerNishat, a senior assistant and seven lady teachers in the case.
The charge-sheet filed by VOK had alleged that the seventeachers were appointed in 1999 on the basis of fake appointment orders.
While acquitting the accused, the court attributed thefailure to prove the fake appointments to faulty investigation of the Vigilanceand casual approach of the prosecution while pursuing the case in the court.
“I am principally convinced that mischief has been done bythe accused but there is nothing on the file in the shape of cogent andclinching evidence to establish and substantiate the same,” Watal said,observing the Investigating officer has done the investigation in casual wayand prosecution has not taken pains to prove the record in the court as perevidentiary jurisprudence.
Underscoring that the prosecution has failed to prove thecharge against the accused beyond doubt, the court said: “The accused deserveto be acquitted by extending them the benefit of doubt”.
Resultantly the court said, the charge sheet is dismissedand the accused are acquitted of the charges.
Miffed over the “mechanical approach” over the faultyinvestigation, the court recorded its anguish regarding the inadequacy ofinvestigation, the failure on behalf of the IO to discharge the responsibilityand the prosecutor who conducted the trial of the case before the court with a”clandestine mission” to keep loopholes in the investigation and casuallypursue the case during trial to benefit the accused ultimately.
“It is an exhibition of low standard of professionalismunbecoming of officials of prime investigating agency entrusted with conductingthe investigation and trial mainly in corruption cases, and is highlydeplorable,” the court said, while disposing of the case.
PROSECUTION CASE:
The charge sheet owes its origin to complaint moved by G MMir, the then Joint Director School Education to SSP Vigilance Organization on5 February 1999 wherein he alleged that the Directorate had received aninformation with regarding to the fake appointments of seven lady teachersworking in Zone Nishat in District Srinagar.
As per the preliminary investigation it was been establishedthat the seven lady teachers managed their entry in Education Departmentfraudulently and illegally in convenience with some vested interests. The VOKwas requested to register a case against the main culprits who manipulated thisfraud of illegal appointments.
On the basis of this information the VOK registered a case(FIR No. 16/1999) under section 5(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act and startedinvestigation. During investigation the service books of the lady teachers wereseized and no orders viz-a-viz their appointment/ transfer order/ adjustmentwere found in the office.
From the perusal of the service books, the Vigilance foundthat the lady teachers were shown to have adjusted in Kangan and Ganderbal Zoneand thereafter shown to have been transferred to Nishat Zone.
During investigation ZEOs of Kangan, Ganderbal and Srinagardisclosed that the lady teachers were neither posted in these zones nor werepaid salaries from these zones.
The Probe by VOK revealed that although the service books ofthese teachers reflected their transfer from one zone to another and fromschool to another, there were no orders to that effect.
Vide order 18-08-2005 the accused were charge sheeted forthe commission of offence under prevention of Corruption Act and under sections120-B, 420,467, 468,471 and 201 of Ranbir Penal Code( RPC).
One of the accused Showkat Ahmad had died during theinvestigation and proceedings against him were abated. To prove the chargeagainst accused for aforementioned sections, prosecution produced sixteenwitnesses.