HC: State cops can probe Central staff in graft cases

Vijay Arora

Advertisement

Shimla, January 7

The HP High Court has held that the state police and state vigilance have concurrent and coextensive power and jurisdiction to investigate cases of bribery and corruption against Central Government employees under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

While deciding an issue pertaining to jurisdiction of the state vigilance on the Central Government employees with regard to corruption, Justice Vivek Singh Thakur said the PC Act included power and jurisdiction of police officers competent to investigate as provided under Section 17 to investigate such offences committed by Central Government employees within their state.

The court further clarified that the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act read with CBI manual also did not exclude the power and jurisdiction of the state police to investigate Central Government employees in cases of PC Act and CBI manual regulated procedure to be adopted by the state police and the CBI to investigate offences wherein both agencies had power and jurisdiction to investigate.

Justice Thakur passed this judgment on a petition filed by a Central Government employee seeking quashing of an FIR and other consequential proceedings initiated against her in a corruption-related case by the state vigilance department on the ground that the state police did not have jurisdiction to investigate the matter. She is serving as a Principal in Kendriya Vidyalaya, ITBP, Sarahan Bushahr.

It was further contended on behalf of the petitioner that in the CBI manual, dealing with the jurisdiction of the DSPE/CBI vis-a-vis state police, it was provided that the cases related to Central Government employees or undertakings of the Centre shall be investigated by DSPE/CBI and even in emergent cases.

Dismissing pleas of the petitioner, the court observed that the CBI had been established under the DSPE Act. Section 6 of the DSPE Act provides consent of the state government for exercising power and jurisdiction by DSPE/CBI in the area of that state. “Undisputedly, power and jurisdiction of DSPE/CBI has been extended with respect to the cases of bribery and corruption. But it does not establish that authorisation of DSPE/CBI to exercise powers and jurisdiction is ouster of power and jurisdiction of the state police,” it observed.