TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2015 (7) TMI 1430
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.... Junior Engineer on 17 March 1980 and was promoted as Assistant Project Engineer in 1989. After holding officiating charge as Project Engineer, he was promoted on 28 August 1997 as Senior Project Engineer, following which on 20 September 2002 he was promoted as Chief Maintenance Engineer. Ultimately, he was promoted as Chief Engineer. A First Information Report FIR was registered as Case Crime No. 371 of 2012 under Sections 409, 420, 466, 467, 469, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 Penal Code and under Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on 13 January 2012 at Police Station Sector 39, Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar, against the ninth respondent, one Ramendra, the then Project Engineer and two construction companies by the name of Tirupati Constructions Private Limited and JSP Constructions. It was alleged that within a brief period between 14 December 2011 and 23 December 2011, agreement bonds for the release of moneys were executed in favour of contractors in the amount of Rs. 954.38 crores by the Engineering Department of NOIDA. Besides this allegation, it was also alleged that the work of underground wiring in respect of certai....
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.... 13. Ris Fashions Pvt. Ltd. 14. Power Mech. Industries Pvt. Ltd. 15. Nitya Tradex Pvt. Ltd. 16. K Biological Pvt. Ltd. 17. Daffodil Infra-Agro Projects Pvt. Ltd. 18. Kinzo Infosoft Pvt. Ltd. 19. Kinzo IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 20. Chahat Technology Pvt. Ltd. 21. K.S. Ultratech Pvt. Ltd. 22. Kusum Garments Pvt. Ltd. 23. Hitchki Creations Pvt. Ltd. 24. Norvic Design Pvt. Ltd. 25. Maconns Infra Pvt. Ltd. 4. The income tax authorities sought documents, inter alia, in regard to the date of allotment of land to those companies together with underlying documents and other details. Details were also sought in regard to the allotment of any other land in the name of the ninth respondent, his wife Kusum Lata, son Sunny Yadav and other persons or entities including Rajinder Manocha, Rajesh Manocha, Namrata Manocha, Anil Peshwari and Meenakshi Peshwari either in their names or in the names of companies or firms in which they were associated. 5. During the course of these proceedings, a compilation of documents has been placed on the record, indicating that in response to the lette....
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.... other malpractices leading to amassing of large amounts of unaccounted money by Shri Yadav Singh, Ex Engineer-in-Chief of NOIDA, Greater NOIDA and Yamuna Express Way Authority. In this regard, it is requested that all the relevant material/documents may be handed over to CBI for carrying the necessary investigation. It is reiterated that notification constituting the Special Investigation Team (SIT) issued in light of directions by Hon'ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil No. 176 of 2009 provides as follows: "All organs, agencies, departments and agents of the State whether at the level of Union of India, or the State Government, including but not limited to all statutorily formed individual bodies, and other constitutional bodies, extend all the cooperation necessary for the functioning of Special Investigation Team. The Union of India and where needed the State Governments will facilitate the conduct of the investigations, in their fullest measure, by the Special Investigation Team and functioning, by extending all the necessary financial material, legal diplomatic and intelligence resources, whether such investigations or portions of such inv....
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....ments, including the Bahujan Samaj Party government under Ms. Mayawati, the Samajwadi Party under Sri Mulayam Singh Yadav and now under Sri Akhilesh Yadav where he has given plum postings, out of way promotions, key positions and large number of lucrative assignments as explained above; (c) the way initially an FIR was registered against Sri Singh, it was handed over to the State investigation agency CB-CID, he was placed under suspension and the investigation agency went all after him as to get red corner notice issued against him by the Interpol but after some months everything changed quite dramatically after his alleged compromise made with certain top political persons playing key and extremely influential role in the present regime; (d) the way the CB-CID closed the criminal case against Sri Singh in an extremely hush-hush and hurried manner; (e) the way the entire State bureaucracy's eyes changed towards Sri Yadav Singh after his alleged compromise with the top political leaders of the current political government (f) the way he was reinstated in a surreptitious manner (g) the way he was made the Engineer-in-chief not only of Noida but of Greater Noida and Yamuna express....
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....and was directed to respond to the allegations contained in the writ petition by 19 June 2015 when it was placed for further hearing. A Special Leave Petition was filed before the Supreme Court in which by an order dated 18 June 2015, the Supreme Court noted, inter alia, the submission of the State that during the pendency of the present proceedings at Lucknow, the High Court was not justified in entertaining another writ petition at Allahabad. The Supreme Court stayed further proceedings in the second writ petition at Allahabad. During the course of the hearing, the learned Advocate General has fairly stated before the Court that since the pleadings in the second writ petition were virtually lifted from the present proceedings, and since these proceedings had already been entertained at Lucknow in the earlier PIL, the State was constrained to move the Supreme Court against a second PIL being entertained. We have mentioned this fact for the completeness of the record though, as we shall now proceed to narrate, the proceedings have been argued fully on all sides to their fullest on merits. 11. The jurisdiction of this Court in a public interest petition has been invoked by the pe....
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....ith the laws made by Parliament and the executive power of the Union extends to giving a direction to a State as would appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose. 12. The second basis for the invocation of the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 is that, consistent with the law laid down by the Supreme Court, the present case is a fit and proper case for a reference being made to the CBI to investigate all aspects pertaining to the alleged acts of corruption of the ninth respondent having due regard to (i) the huge corruption involved; (ii) the political support and patronage extended to the ninth respondent cutting across the political spectrum; (iii) the high level at which bureaucratic irregularities have taken place; (iv) the national and global spread of the crime; (v) the need for a specialized investigation by an agency; and (vi) the avowed need to preserve public confidence in the administration of criminal justice. In this regard, the petitioner has averred that initially an FIR was registered against the ninth respondent and he was suspended from service. According to the petitioner, the investigation was abruptly transferred to the CBC....
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....he State and their close relatives who are stated to be business associates. The names of the companies through which his unlawful activities are stated to have taken place have been set out. On this basis, it has been submitted that the manner in which the State Government closed the earlier proceedings through its investigative arm is indicative of the fact that there is no serious effort to investigate the allegations against the ninth respondent. After facts came to light following the raid by the income tax authorities, all that the State Government has done-it is submitted-is to constitute a Commission of Inquiry. No FIR was registered and no effort has been made by the State to investigate into the allegations against the ninth respondent. The State Government has, in the submission of the petitioner, acknowledged the volume and complexity of the case in its official notifications as well as in its counter affidavits filed in these proceedings. In this background, having also regard to the nature and complexity of the case, it has been submitted that a reference to the CBI for carrying out the investigation is necessary to ensure that the administration of criminal law is no....
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....ted by the SIT; (iv) In order to enable the SIT to investigate a case, the condition precedent is that there must be stashing of money abroad in an unaccounted form which is absent in the present case; and (v) Under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, it is not open to the Union Government to direct the State to hand over the papers to CBI without the consent of the State Government. 15. Counsel appearing on behalf of NOIDA has supported these submissions and urged that NOIDA has cooperated with the income tax authorities upon receipt of the letter dated 8 December 2014 by making available necessary documents and material pertaining to the ninth respondent and the dealings in property by his alleged associates and companies. The submissions which have been made by the other learned counsel were adopted. 16. These submissions fall for consideration. 17. In Ram Jethmalani (supra), the Supreme Court constituted an SIT headed by two former Judges of the Supreme Court to investigate into and initiate proceedings including prosecutions in relation to all matters regarding unaccounted moneys held in foreign banks by Indians or other entities....
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....accounted for monies out of and/or bring such monies back into the country, and use of such monies in India or abroad. The Special Investigation Team shall also be charged with the responsibility of preparing a comprehensive action plan, including the creation of necessary institutional structures that can enable and strengthen the country's battle against generation of unaccounted for monies, and their stashing away in foreign banks or in various forms domestically; (v) That the Special Investigation Team so constituted report and be responsible to this Court, and that it shall be charged with the duty to keep this Court informed of all major developments by the filing of periodic status reports, and following of any special orders that this Court may issue from time to time; (vi) That all organs, agencies, departments and agents of the State, whether at the level of the Union of India, or the State Government, including but not limited to all statutorily formed individual bodies, and other constitutional bodies, extend all the cooperation necessary for the Special Investigation Team so constituted and functioning; (vii) That the Union of India, and ....
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....and Yamuna Expressway Authority leading to the amassing of large amounts of unaccounted money. The letter of 24 February 2015 was addressed by the Union Government on the instructions of the SIT on black money which had directed the Director of CBI to take up the investigation in respect of the ninth respondent. The Union Government in addressing the communication was discharging its solemn obligation in terms of the judgment and order of the Supreme Court which required all governmental authorities both at the Central and the State level to cooperate with the SIT. Once instructions have been issued by the SIT in pursuance of which the Director CBI, who is a member of the SIT, is to take up the investigation, the State Government had no option but to comply with the direction. Under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction is empowered to pass such decree or to make such orders as are necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it. Article 144 requires all authorities, civil and judicial in the territory of India to act in aid of the Supreme Court. Under Article 256 of the Constitution, the executive power....
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.... any legal basis. 21. Independent of our conclusion on the first aspect above, the next aspect of the matter is whether the circumstances of the present case require an investigation by the CBI. As we approach this aspect of the matter, we must, at the outset, be conscious of the law on the subject which has been laid down in several judgments of the Supreme Court. Section 3 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 provides that the Central Government may, by a notification in the official gazette, specify the offences or class of offences which are to be investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment. Under Section 5, the Central Government is empowered by order to extend to any area in a State, not being a Union Territory, the powers and jurisdiction of the Delhi Special Police Establishment for the investigation of any offences or classes of offences specified in a notification under Section 3. Section 6, however, provides that nothing contained in Section 5 would be deemed to enable any member of the establishment of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State without the consent of the government of th....
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....e question of issuing a direction to CBI to conduct investigation in a case is concerned, although no inflexible guidelines can be laid down to decide whether or not such power should be exercised but time and again it has been reiterated that such an order is not to be passed as a matter of routine or merely because a party has levelled some allegations against the local police. This extraordinary power must be exercised sparingly, cautiously and in exceptional situations where it becomes necessary to provide credibility and instill confidence in investigations or where the incident may have national and international ramifications or where such an order may be necessary for doing complete justice and enforcing the fundamental rights. Otherwise CBI would be flooded with a large number of cases and with limited resources, may find it difficult to properly investigate even serious cases and in the process lose its credibility and purpose with unsatisfactory investigations." 23. In Secretary, Minor Irrigation & Rural Engineering Services, U.P. Vs. Sahngoo Ram Arya (2002) 5 SCC 521, the Supreme Court observed as follows: "...Therefore, it is clear that a decision to direct....
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....ineer in NOIDA informed the Court that he had no objection to the acceptance of the closure report and on 27 November 2014 the matter was closed. Incidentally, the income tax raid took place on the same day. The matter has been under investigation by various authorities including the income tax department, the Directorate of Enforcement and the SIT. The allegations against the ninth respondent are not just allegations of personal corruption or of personal aggrandizement. The essence of the allegation is that the ninth respondent has been able to use his personal proximity in the corridors of power with successive governments in State by indulging in corruption, amassing wealth for conferring favours on himself, the members of his family and business associates. The ninth respondent has, it is alleged, been able to shield himself due to his proximity with the corridors of power both in the previous government and the present government in the State of Uttar Pradesh. At this stage, we desist from making a specific mention of the names of political personalities but it would suffice to note that there are serious allegations that the business associates of the ninth respondent and the....
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....ommencing from the income tax raids which took place on 27 and 28 November 2014, no serious effort has been made to entrust the investigation to the investigative arm of the State. Even the investigative arm of the State has been subordinated to the Commission of Inquiry. This Court must take note of the effort to protract and stall a credible criminal investigation even after the receipt of the letter of the Union Government on 24 February 2015 drawing attention to serious allegations of corruption and amassing of unaccounted wealth by the ninth respondent. The Court has been informed on affidavit that even the departmental enquiries initiated against the ninth respondent have been deferred and held in abeyance following the constitution of a Commission of Inquiry. Fourthly, the corruption alleged is on a gigantic scale. A complex web of shell companies has been adopted to evade law and to launder the allegedly ill gotten gains. There is a serious case to be probed on whether as alleged the activities of the ninth respondent have benefactors in high places in the State who have been associated through their close relatives and associates with the business dealings of the ninth res....