Govt turns to advocate general to wriggle out
A corruption case was registered against excm Hooda without taking approval of state govt
CHANDIGARH: Having committed a faux pas by getting a criminal case registered against former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) without the prior approval of the state government, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana has sought the opinion of advocate general BR Mahajan to wriggle out of the situation.
Hooda was booked under Section 13 of the PCA in a suspected land deal involving Robert Vadra’s company, Sky Light Hospitality and realty major DLF.
Hindustan Times had reported the faux pas committed by Gurgaon police in registering a criminal case against Hooda under the PCA without taking the prior approval of the state government, a condition mandated under the amended graft law. On being asked about the points of references on which legal opinion has been sought by the government, the advocate general said it was with respect to grant of prior approval for investigating the matter.
“I am still examining it,’’ Mahajan said. As per the Code of Criminal Procedure, the investigation of the offence starts as soon as the FIR is registered. The Supreme Court in its March 1, 2011 order had defined investigations as: “Under the scheme of the Code of Criminal Procedure, investigation commences with lodgment of information relating to the commission of an offence.”
The authority concerned for granting prior approval has 90 days to convey it decision on the matter.
The Gurgaon police, which registered the case on September 1, had tried to make amends by seeking “ex post facto” approval of the state government for conducting investigations into the offence alleged to have been committed by Hooda under the amended PCA. This, as per the legal experts, will not cure the defective first information report (FIR) lodged by the police.
Officials said the Gurgaon commissioner of police had sent a sketchy reference to the DGP, seeking “ex post facto” approval to investigate PCA cases against Hooda. Before the state government accords approval in this regard, it would have to give a cogent justification in black and white.
Officials said that since the allegations in the FIR pertained to the town and country planning, industries and revenue departments, the home department will have to seek and examine their comments before proceeding any further. The governor, who is the appointing authority of a chief minister, can accord approval only after getting a justification that a case is made out here.
As per a 1997 ruling of the Supreme Court in J Jayalaltiha case, the governor while determining whether sanction of prosecution should be granted or not would necessarily act on his own discretion and not on the advice of the council of ministers as a matter of propriety.