The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the direction of the Delhi High Court to register FIRs against former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar as well as former Inspector Vinod Kumar Pandey, following complaints from 2000 alleging intimidation, falsification of records, and forgery during their deputation to CBI.
A bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale was dealing with the officers’ appeals against High Court orders in writ petitions filed in 2001 by two persons seeking action against the officers. At the time of the alleged offences, Kumar and Pandey were deputed to CBI as Joint Director and Inspector respectively.
“It is trite to point out that the offence is alleged to have been committed in the year 2000 and till date the matter had not been allowed to be investigated. It would be dichotomy of justice if such an offence is allowed to go uninvestigated particularly when there is involvement of the officers on deputation to CBI. It is cardinal in law that justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done. It is high time that sometimes those who investigate must also be investigated to keep alive the faith of the public at large in the system”, the Court observed.
Petitioner Vijay Aggarwal sought registration of an FIR against the officers for allegedly coercing him to ensure withdrawal of a
complaint filed by his brother against Kumar. The other petitioner Sheesh Ram Saini alleged procedural irregularities, intimidation, and misuse of authority during seizures of documents by the CBI officers. In 2006, a Single Judge of the High Court found that the complaints disclosed prima facie cognizable offences and directed the Delhi Police to register FIRs and investigate the matter through a Delhi Police Special Cell officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, independently of the findings in a preliminary inquiry conducted by the Joint Director of CBI on April 26, 2005.
The High Court highlighted the seriousness of the alleged offences, noting that in Saini’s complaint, documents were seized on April 26, 2000, but the seizure memo was only prepared on April 27, 2000, contrary to CBI procedures.
As per Aggarwal’s complaint, Pandey summoned him on June 7 and 11, 2001, in apparent violation of a bail order dated November 27, 2000, and allegedly used abusive language to pressure him to withdraw his brother’s complaint against Kumar, the High Court noted.
The Single Judge disagreed with CBI’s preliminary enquiry report that no offence was made out, and directed the Investigating Officer not to consider the report.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju for CBI sought impleadment of the CBI to defend the inquiry report. The Supreme Court observed that the CBI was not personally aggrieved by the High Court’s direction to register FIRs, and had not challenged the orders. Therefore, there was no need to implead it as a party in the appeals.
