By Dhiraj Beniwal
New Delhi [India], September 26 : The Rouse Avenue court on Friday framed charges against former Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, former Principal Secretary and two others in a corruption case linked with M/s Mizoram Direct Marketing Ltd.
This case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the direction of the Delhi High Court on a petition. Initial FIR was registered at the police station Burari, Delhi.
Special CBI Judge Jitendra Singh framed the charges against P.C. Lallawmsanga (the then Principal Secretary, Industries), Lal Thanhawla (the then Chief Minister, Mizoram), Ajay Joshi (Chartered Accountant), Praveen Chandan (Promoter-Director), and M/s RMP Infotec Pvt. Ltd under sections related to the Criminal Conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act
The Special CBI judge said that at the stage of framing of charge, the Court is not required to assess the probative value of the evidence, but only to examine whether the material available on record, if left unrebutted, prima facie discloses the commission of an offence.
"Applying this settled principle, there exist sufficient grounds to frame a charge against Accused P.C. Lallawmsanga and Accused Lal Thanhawla, who, while acting in concert, misused their official positions to extend undue advantage to Accused M/s RMP Infotec Pvt. Ltd, in conspiracy with each other as well as with accused Ajay Joshin and accused Praveen Chandan, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 120-B of the IPC read with Section 13(1)(d) and Section 13(2) of the PC Act," Special Judge ruled on September 26.
However, the court dropped the charges of cheating due to a lack of sufficient material. Though the court framed charges for the offences of criminal conspiracy and corruption. The Court held, " The procedure prescribed under law was deliberately circumvented, and the file was advanced in undue haste, ignoring the objections raised by competent authorities. Such conduct on the part of the public servant, when viewed in conjunction with the acts of the other accused persons, prima facie demonstrates a concerted design to extend undue benefit to a particular company."
"The fact that no specific individual may have been directly cheated is immaterial, for the gravamen of the offence lies in the abuse of public office and the conferral of illegal advantage in violation of established procedure," the court said.
The court held that the actions in question, therefore, do not merely constitute administrative impropriety but rise to the level of criminal misconduct within the meaning of the law. They disclose a prima facie case of conspiracy and abuse of official position, attracting the provisions of Section 120-B IPC read with Section 13(1) (d) of the PC Act.
"Accordingly, there exist sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused persons for the aforesaid offences," the Special judge said in the order.
The court said that Prima facie, the material on record reveals that the then Principal Secretary, Industries, in active concert with the then Chief Minister and in conspiracy with Ajay Joshi, Praveen Chandan and M/S RMP Infotec Private Limited undertook steps for the creation of a company for multilevel direct marketing without placing the matter before the Council of Ministers, despite the explicit mandate of Rule 7 read with the Second Schedule of the Government of Mizoram (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1987, which requires Cabinet approval in all matters of major policy and financial import.
The court pointed out, " The circumvention of the prescribed procedure and the bypassing of collective Cabinet decision-making demonstrate a clear understanding and agreement between the said public servants to misuse their official position to secure an undue pecuniary advantage in favour of a private entity."
"Such acts, on a prima facie appraisal, disclose abuse of office and absence of any public interest, thereby satisfying the essential ingredients of criminal misconduct as envisaged under Section 13(1)(d) of the PC Act, read with Section 120-B of the IPC relating to the offence of criminal conspiracy," the court said.
As per the prosecution, a complaint dated 02.08.2019 was lodged by the complainant, Sanser Pal Singh and an FIR was registered at Police Station Burari, Delhi, under Sections 420/34 IPC, against the accused persons, namely, P.C. Lallawmsanga, Devajeet, Devender Verma, Praveen Chandan and Praveen Jakhar.
The allegation against the accused persons was that the complainant was induced to invest a sum of 5,000 in M/s Mizoram ₹ Direct Marketing Ltd. (M/s MDML), which was falsely represented to be a government undertaking.
Subsequently, it came to the complainant's knowledge that M/S MDML had, in fact, been floated by P.C. Lallawmsanga in his personal capacity, thereby cheating the complainant.
Pursuant to the directions of the High Court of Delhi, the investigation in the present matter was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, and a fresh FIR was lodged.
After the conclusion of the initial investigation, a closure report was submitted on 29.09.2018. However, on 03.02.2020, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate directed further investigation in the matter.
Thereafter, the CBI filed a chargesheet against accused P.C. Lallawmsanga, Lal Thanhawla (the then Chief Minister, Mizoram), Ajay Joshi (Chartered Accountant), Praveen Chandan M/s RMP Infotec Pvt. Ltd. for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 120B, 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.