Court expresses displeasure over not taking sanction to investigate public servants in illegal parking case

New Delhi [India], September 2 A Special Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) Court has expressed its displeasure over the investigating officer (IO) not taking sanction to investigate public servants, including some senior police officers, in an alleged illegal parking case in south Delhi's Saket area.
The investigation officer took sanction to investigate only one officer, the court said.
The court also pulled up the ACB for not investigating how, despite cancellation, illegal parking was running in the Saket area.
"The Anti-Corruption Branch shall, on the next date, report whether it intends to seek approval for investigating the other officers/offenders named in the complaint," Special Judge Ashish Agarwal ordered on August 14.
The matter has been listed for hearing on September 29.
The ACB court has been dealing with a complaint filed by an advocate, Vikas Bakshi, seeking registration of an FIR for an investigation into the allegations that parking has been running illegally despite the cancellation of a license, and money has been extorted from the public.
He alleged that this has been done by the parking mafia in connivance with police and MCD officials.
The court observed, "No attempt has been made by the Anti-Corruption Branch to examine as to why MCD officers, despite the cancellation of allotment of parking, did not make any effort to recover possession of the land and to allot the parking site to someone else."
"Why did they turn a blind eye to the said person who was allegedly illegally running the parking site and collecting money in the name of discharging a municipal function," the court added.
The court also raised a question on why no action was taken by MCD to recover the money owed to it by the entity to whom the parking site had been allotted and why the allotment was made to an entity with an incomplete or incorrect address.
" The Anti-Corruption Branch also has not made any attempt to find out if all of the aforesaid had been happening because of money exchanging hands," the court remarked.
"This is tell-tale of the slipshod working of the Anti-Corruption Branch," the judge said.
Additionally, the court has asked to send a copy of the order to the Chief Secretary of Government of NCT, Delhi, to look into the workings of the Anti-Corruption Branch and to make sure that there are suitable persons who have the capacity and willingness to sincerely discharge their duties.
The court has taken a serious view over non-action by the ACB's IO.
The court said, "It is all the more strange that while Delhi Police itself has stated in its status reports submitted before the Court of Ld. Metropolitan Magistrate, Saket, that several persons were involved in the crime and they are being investigated, the investigating officer of the Anti-Corruption Branch wants to believe that no crime has been committed."
The court said that the IO holds this belief without investigating the matter, and based on the said opinion, he has chosen not to even seek approval for initiating an investigation against respondents officers.
Further, the court said that the question before this Court is not whether illegal parking was taking place at the site.
The allegations made in the complaint are of the offence of corruption by officers who may have decided, after taking a bribe, not to enforce the cancellation of the allotment of the parking site, allowing extortion activity to take place on the site, allowing the government to lose revenue.
Allegedly there is rampant collection of monthly and weekly bribes from parking mafia by officers of police and of MCD, the court said.
The court remarked, "If the officers themselves are asked whether they are committing the said crime, they are unlikely to admit their involvement."
In the present case, in their report to the Lokpal, they would not have admitted the acceptance of the bribe and their claim of being innocent may not have been refuted because there has not been any detailed investigation in the present case, the court said.
The court also referred to the order of Lokpal and said that there is no finding of fact in the order of the Lokpal, which would be binding on this Court and by which it can be irrefutably concluded that the offences of corruption, as alleged in the complaint, did not take place.
" Even where a criminal case is filed before a Court, and if the accused is discharged without trial, an investigating agency is not precluded from investigating the offence, collecting evidence and filing a fresh charge-sheet against the offenders for their trial to take place," the court pointed out.
The observations of the Honorable Lokpal certainly do not prevent the police from investigating the matter and from trying to unravel the truth.
An investigation is only an attempt to arrive at the truth, and it prejudices none.
Even Section 57 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 provides that the said Act is in addition to other statutes, the court observed.
The complainant, Vikas Bakshi, an advocate, has sought directions to SHO, Anti-Corruption Branch, to register an FIR and to investigate the matter.
As per allegations, on a land of about 4-5 acres behind Select City Walk Mall, Saket, New Delhi, MCD had allotted parking rights to M/s. Sanjay Kumar Technocrate Pvt. Ltd., Post and District Sheikhpura, Bihar.
It is alleged that the persons controlling the said entity are using the parking site illegally and unauthorizedly for the unlawful activity of extortion of money.
It is further alleged in the complaint that the address of the said company is incomplete and the place mentioned therein does not exist.
It is also mentioned in the complaint that a substantial sum of money that was owed by the allottee to MCD, was not paid, and the parking allotment had been cancelled by an order of 17.07.2023.
It is further mentioned that despite the cancellation of the allotment and failure to deposit the said dues, the parking site continued to remain functional and running.
It is stated in the complaint that an FIR on 27.09.2023 of offences under Sections 384/506 of IPC was registered against the parking mafia and the company at Police Station, Saket.
It is also alleged that Subodh Kumar, who is Inspector, SHO Police Station Saket, Vikas Tripathi, Additional Commissioner, and Amit Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, along with Vinod Kumar, Administration Officer, are complicit with the parking mafia and are receiving weekly/monthly bribes from the said parking mafia to allow them to continue with their activity.
This is stated to be causing a huge loss to the government of around Rs 3 crore, the court order noted.