TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2006 (11) TMI 717
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....reliminary inquiry was conducted in which the statements of various officers were recorded. However, the investigating officer was of the opinion that it was not necessary to register a First Information Report. It recommended for holding of departmental proceedings against the concerned officers. The said recommendation found favour with the higher officers. The opinion of the Central Vigilance Commission was also obtained. 4. It is stated that pursuant to or in furtherance of the said recommendation, the Railway Administration initiated departmental proceedings against the concerned officers, namely, S/Shri Shyam Sunder, U.J. Dave, R.T. Pali and Ganga Prasad Sahu and imposed different penalties on them. The Railway Board thereafter by letters dated 06.12.2005 and 22.02.2006 advised the Central Vigilance Commission as regards imposition of penalties upon the said officers and closure of cases against them. Appellant, however, in the meanwhile, was transferred by an order dated 20.05.2005. He approached the Central Administrative Tribunal contending that the said order of transfer was mala fide and being an outcome of his complaint and statements made in the inquiry conducted by....
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.... Court by filing the present Writ Petition. In our opinion, this is nothing but an abuse of process of Court. 6. Mr. S.S. Voditel, the learned Counsel appearing on behalf of Appellant, would contend that even in a case where the Investigating Officer may exercise his option of closing a case, it would be obligatory on his part to comply with the provisions of Section 157(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, 'the Code'). In support of the said contention, our attention has been drawn to some decisions of this Court as also a decision of the Kerala High Court in Velayudhan v. State of Kerala 1998 (1) Crimes 510. Mr. Vikas Singh, the learned Additional Solicitor General, appearing on behalf of Respondents, on the other hand, would submit that the first respondent having been constituted in terms of the Section 2 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (for short, 'the said Act') and the Central Government having laid down the procedures for conducting investigation including the mode and manner in which the preliminary inquiry should be conducted, (known as CBI Manual), which received the approval of this Court in Vineet Narain and Ors. v.....
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....cial position by a public servant in the matter of business/commercial decision, the important difference between a business risk and a mala fide conduct should be kept in mind with view to ensure that while corrupt public servants are suitably dealt with the bona fide business/commercial decisions taken by public servants in discharge of their duties are not taken up for unnecessary probe. Paragraph 9.7 reads as under: As soon as it is decided to register a PE, the SP will take action to get the PE Registration Report prepared, which will invariably be vetted by him and in case of important enquiries even drafted by him. Registration Report of PE should be written in the PE Registration Report Form and not on the form prescribed for recording First Information Report under Section 154 Cr. PC. Beside the allegations in brief, the complete details of the suspects involved should be recorded in the PE Registration Report. In respect of the public servants found involved in the matter, their Group, the Service (IAS, IRS, IPS etc.), present designation, scale of pay, present pay and date of superannuation (if available) should also be mentioned in the PE. registration repor....
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.... by the learned Counsel for the State in support of his contention that there was no investigation in the present case are rather wide off the mark. In In re Nanumuri Anandayya a Division Bench of the Madras High Court held that an informal enquiry on the basis of a vague telegram was not an investigation within the meaning of Section 157 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In In re Rangarujulu, Ramaswami, J. of the Madras High Court described the following three stages a policeman has to pass in a conspiracy case: ...hears something of interest affecting the public security and which puts him on the alert; makes discreet enquiries, takes soundings and sets up informants and is in the second stage of qui vive or lookout; and finally gathers sufficient information enabling him to bite upon something definite and that is the stage when first information is recorded and when investigation starts. This graphic description of the stages is only a restatement of the principle that a vague information or an irresponsible rumour would not in itself constitute information within the meaning of Section 154 of the Code or the basis for an investigation under Section 157 there....
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....7) Before a public servant, whatever be his status, is publicly charged with acts of dishonesty which amount to serious misdemeanour or misconduct of the type alleged in this case and a first information is lodged against him, there must be some suitable preliminary enquiry into the allegations by a responsible officer. The lodging of such a report against a person specially one who like the appellant occupied the top position in a department, even if baseless, would do incalculable harm not only to the officer in particular but to the department he belonged to, in general .... The means adopted no less than the end to be achieved must be impeccable. 78. Mudholkar, J. in a separate judgment in State of Uttar Pradesh v. Bhagwant Kishore Joshi at p. 86 while agreeing with the conclusion of Subba Rao, J. (as he then was) has expressed his opinion stating: (SCR pp. 86-87) In the absence of any prohibition in the Code, express or implied, I am of opinion that it is open to a police officer to make preliminary enquiries before registering an offence and making a full scale investigation into it. Thus, registration of a case is a sine qua non for starti....