Court allows cancellation of FIR against ex-DGP Virk

PUNJAB VIGILANCE BUREAU HAD MOVED APPLICATION IN THIS REGARD IN FEBRUARY, CITING LACK OF ‘SUBSTANTIAL PROOF’

SAS NAGAR: In a major relief to former Punjab director general of police (DGP) SS Virk, the special court in SAS Nagar has allowed the cancellation of an FIR against him in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) had moved the application regarding cancellation of the case against Virk in February this year, citing lack of ‘substantial evidence’ against him.

The VB had in September 2007 registered a case and arrested Virk on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and misuse of official position under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention Of Corruption Act. Virk, a 1970-batch IPS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, was arrested in Delhi. In the supplementary chargesheet filed in August 2008, Virk was accused of having “unaccounted money” of Rs 3.12 crore in more than 35 bank accounts.

Following Virk’s plea in 2008, the Punjab and Haryana high court handed over the case to a probe panel set up by the Punjab government on the court’s directions.

Ten years after registering the case, the VB filed the application for cancellation of FIR, saying it has found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.

Taking up the case in an open court, additional district and sessions judge Puneet Mohan Sharma accepted the VB’s application and allowed cancellation of the FIR against the former DGP, who was present in the court.

Earlier, multiple challans were produced in the court by the bureau, but no strong evidence has come to the fore against the former DGP.

Virk had filed 16 writ petitions in the high court claiming innocence and terming the registration of FIR by the vigilance bureau as illegal.

Virk, considered close to chief minister Amarinder Singh, was suspended by the SAD-BJP government in a land grab case. He was later reinstated.