Bachitter Singh vs State of Haryana

R.L. Anand, J.

By this order I dispose of two Criminal Writ Petitions No. 474 of 1997 (Bachittar Singh & others v. The State of Haryana & others) and . 998 of 1997 (Maj. Gen. D.P. Singh etc v. The State of Haryana & others) as the prayer made in both the writ petitions is common. The petitioners of both the writ petitions are seeking the directions of this Court against the respondents for handing over the investigation to independent agency like C.B.I. in case FIR No. 60, dated 1.5.1997 registered under Sections 406, 420, 467, 471 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code.

The broad allegations of the petitioners are that they have been duped with crores of rupees by the respondents, who allegedly are influential persons and on whose beck and call the local administration i.e. U.T. Administration and U.T. police are supporting. Further the grouse of the petitioners is that on going investigation in the hands of local police is tainted, partial and the police is bent upon to help the main culprits, who had allegedly defrauded the innocent public to the crores of rupees by flouting the Cooperative Society and inviting the public at large to contribute their hard earned income on the pretext that they would allot residential plots after the Housing Board develops the land which the society has already purchased. On the contrary, the stand of the local administration is that the investigation is being done in a most impartial manner and the local police is not showing any undue favour to any party whatsoever.

During the course of proceedings this Court gave the directions to the U.T. Administration to apprise today about the latest position of the ongoing investigation. Today an affidavit has been filed on behalf of Inspector Biswa Lal, who is the incharge of this investigation. As per the affidavit 46 challans are going to be put against four persons namely Balwan Singh, Narveer Singh, Deepak Chaudhary and Dr. Mina. It has also been stated in the affidavit that all these four persons had been arrested and they are on bail by virtue of provisions of Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Shri Hemant Gupta, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted that although the State has prepared 46 challans against the four accused and has recovered the amount of Rs. 3,49,86,710/, yet the Investigating Officer in all its fairness has not directed the investigation in the right perspective. Unfolding his submissions Mr. Gupta was critical in order to point out to this Court that prime accused though are residents of Chandigarh but the area of their operation was Haryana. He further submitted that the Investigating Officer has not taken into possession the complete record of this case from different departments; the bank accounts of the accused have not been seized; the connivance of the investigating agency is a writ large when the challenge has not been presented within 90 days, as a result of which the accused got bail under Section 167(2) Cr.P.C., and the most important documents i.e. the vital diaries have not been taken into possession. The counsel submitted that there were six monetary diaries and only one has been taken into possession and five have not been taken into possession intentionally so as to leave the yawning gap in the investigation. The counsel also pointed out that original saledeeds which are relevant for proving the charges have also not been taken into possession by the Investigating Officer and all these things lead to an irresistible conclusion that the investigation of this case should be handed over to an independent agency like C.B.I.

Investigation is primarily to hunt out the crime and to conduct an investigation is the primary subject of the State Government. Here the local administration i.e. U.T. Administration will undertake this job as the offence has been registered in U.T., Chandigarh. Very strong reasons are required to be made out by a litigant in order to seek the directions of this Court for handing over the investigation to an independent agency. There must be irresistible conclusions which should be drawn by the law courts before passing such orders for the entrusting of the investigation to the independent agencies. The alleged lacunae which have been highlighted by the learned counsel for the petitioners, in the opinion of this Court do not constitute such premises from where any direction in favour of the petitioners can be granted. Rather the arrest of 46 persons, who are allegedly related to high ups, suggest in itself that the local police is not conniving with any accused whatsoever. The skill to collect the incriminating evidence always varies from Investigating Officer to Investigating Officer. It is for the Investigating Officer to decide which evidence is necessary so as to hunt out the crime. Here is a case which primarily rests upon the documentary evidence. The material documents in this case would be the receipts of the money vide which the persons had parted their hard earned income to the promoters of the society. Still if the complainant feels that some valuable evidence has not been collected by the Investigating Officer, he would have the right to submit an application before the SSP, Chandigarh, who shall direct the Investigating Officer to examine those aspects and if necessary such evidence may also be taken into possession. The fear of the petitioners can be allayed by giving suitable directions to the respondents. This court does not want that challans against the accused should be filed in hurry or haste. This Court also does not want that incomplete challans should be filed against the accused. Directions are given to SSP, Chandigarh that before submitting the challans, these challans must be verified by an officer not less than the rank of an I.P.S. officer. This Court also expects from the SSP that before the submission of the challans in the law court, he should also look into the serious allegation is levelled against and if he finds that some more evidence is required to be collected to connect the accused, he shall give the directions to the Investigating Officer/Supervisory Officer in this regard. If the copies of the saledeeds are required to be taken into possession by the Investigating Officer every efforts will be made to collect those document from the office of the SubRegistrar before the submission of the challans. The entire process must be recompleted by the local police within three months from today including the time which might be taken up by the prosecution for the scrutiny of the challans itself. 46 challans regarding which the affidavit has been given today in Court should be filed at the first instance. If the police further finds that some more challans are necessary with regard to the alleged embezzlement of certain persons, it shall file the same after completing the investigation with respect to those instance of embezzlement.

With above observations and directions, the present two petitions stands disposed of.