HC quashes FIR against ex-minister Ashu in tender allotment case

In a significant judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the Vigilance Bureau’s (VB) action against former Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, along with District Food and Civil Supplies Controllers Sukhwinder Singh Gill and Harveen Kaur, amounted to “misuse of power for reasons unknown to law”.

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While quashing the FIRs registered against them in the alleged foodgrains transportation tender allotement scam of Rs 2,000 crore, the court observed that the proceedings were initiated at the instance of the complainant “merely to harass”.

Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu in his detailed order stated, “The launching of prosecution by complainant Gurpreet Singh (an unsuccessful bidder) is a glaring example of cloaking a contractual dispute related to the procurement and transportation of foodgrains as a criminal offence. This amounts to misuse of VB’s authority, initiated solely to harass the petitioners.”

The case pertained to FIR No. 11, dated August 16, 2022, registered under various sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act at the VB police station in Ludhiana. According to prosecution, the ex-minister was solely responsible for changing the policy 2020-21 for tender allotment for foodgrains just to favour his favourite contractors. It was alleged that with the change of policy by adding sub-clause 5G new participants were debarred by terming them ineligible.

After hearing the arguments, the HC observed, “The amendement of clause 5 (G) of the policy for 2020-21, which has been made the sole basis for initiation of criminal prosecution, has already been judicially reviewed by the Division Benches of HC and the same were duly upheld. Moreover, the policy was framed by the Government of Punjab and thus it cannot be said that the decision to that effect was taken solely by petitioner Bharat Bhushan Ashu”. It also held that the allegations in the FIRs did not disclose any cognizable offence.

The Bench further noted that the petitioners, Ashu, two DFSC and successful bidder Paramjit Chechi, were implicated without any valid basis. “Even no mens rea can be attributed to Gill and Kaur as they were merely discharging their official duties with due diligence,” the court observed.

On the inclusion of Paramjit Chechi in the FIR, the court pointed out that the complainant Gurpreet Singh and witness Rohit Kumar, both unsuccessful bidders, had vested interest and sought to malign Chechi out of vengeance. “The allegation of providing fake registration numbers of vehicles does not constitute any offence,” the court ruled.

Emphasising on the misuse of power, the court highlighted that the VB failed to verify facts before initiating the proceedings. It concluded that the FIRs were a clear case of vindictive action initiated at the behest of the complainant. The order was pronounced a few days back, but the copy was available now.