NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has ordered the framing of corruption and criminal conspiracy charges against two Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), for allegedly compromising investigations in certain cases in exchange for “extraneous pecuniary consideration”.
Special judge Atul Krishna Agrawal, in an order passed, also discharged a CBI inspector and a private company, observing that there was insufficient evidence against them and that the allegations against the inspector amounted to “suspicion but not grave suspicion”.
According to the CBI, DSP R K Rishi, Inspector Kapil Dhanked and Selection Grade-II (SG-II) official Samir Kumar Singh allegedly conspired with two private individuals and others to compromise the integrity of investigations in several cases for monetary benefits.
The agency had filed a chargesheet against Rishi, Dhanked, Singh and M/s Frost International Ltd under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
The court observed that one of the main allegations in the case was that Rishi had accepted bribes from different individuals and distributed the money among Dhanked and Singh in exchange for unlawful favours. However, the judge noted there was no witness supporting that allegation.
The judge further said no recovery of alleged bribe money had been made from any of the accused and described the prosecution’s case on that aspect as “quite weak”.
The court also rejected the alleged confessional statements of Dhanked and Singh, holding that they carried no evidentiary value.
Referring to allegations against Singh, the court observed that he allegedly assisted the DSP by providing confidential information related to matters pending investigation before the CBI. In return, he allegedly received illegal gratification.
Among the entities whose information was allegedly shared with Rishi was Frost International Ltd.
The court noted that Singh’s bank account reflected cash deposits exceeding Rs 4 lakh within a short period in April 2019, along with additional deposits of around Rs 1.5 lakh in November of the same year.
“Hence, it is for accused three to explain the source of the cash received and deposited by him since public servants are invariably not permitted to deal in cash transactions in excess of Rs 20,000 or make cash deposits and the said practice is discouraged,” the judge said.
Calling the allegations serious, the court said there was sufficient material on record to frame charges against Singh under IPC Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master).
The court also directed framing of charges against Singh under the Prevention of Corruption Act, observing that he had allegedly accessed confidential documents without the knowledge or approval of the department head, which amounted to “theft of information”.
Similar charges were also ordered to be framed against Rishi.
However, the court discharged Dhanked, saying there was no money trail linking him to the allegations and that the case against him “realms on the border of suspicion but not grave suspicion, so as to frame charges”.
Frost International Ltd was also discharged, with the court observing that the allegations against the company were based only on assumptions, presumptions and the alleged confessional statement of Dhanked, which was not admissible in law.
