Court attaches salary of under secretary for delay in prosecution sanction against forest officer
The case dates back to July 2022 when the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested IFS officer Chauhan, who was then posted as conservator of forests planning, in a corruption case.
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After hearing the application, the court observed that since Harmohinder is approver in the present case, he is exempted from personal appearance till further orders. (Representational Image)The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) SAS Nagar Harsimranjit Singh pulled up Union environment ministry officials for delaying the prosecution sanction against Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer Vishal Chauhan, an accused in an alleged corruption case.
The court also ordered to attach the salary of Under Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climatic Change, New Delhi, for the delay. The case had come up for hearing on November 22 and will be heard next on December 9. The ADSJ was hearing an application by one of the accused Harmohinder Singh Hummy, who later became approver in the case, for permanent exemption from appearance.
The case dates back to July 2022 when the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested IFS officer Chauhan, who was then posted as conservator of forests planning, in a corruption case. The arrest was made after conducting interrogations of arrested accused Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Mohali Guramanpreet Singh and contractor Harmahinder Singh. Both were arrested on June 2 for accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from realty firm WWICS Estate Private Limited for allegedly favouring it in a project.
After hearing the application, the court observed that since Harmohinder is approver in the present case, he is exempted from personal appearance till further orders.
Also observing the delay in prosecution sanction against Chauhan, the court observed, “Sanction qua accused Chauhan again not received. Perusal of the file shows that in a letter dated July 23, Under Secretary to GoI, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climatic Change had requested for more time to finalise the case regarding sanction for Chauhan’s prosecution since the process involves mandatory advice of CVC and seeking approval of the minister twice. However, almost four months have passed and the competent authority has failed to finalise the case. This is a gross derogation of circular (No.15/07/22 of CVC dated 29.07.2022) in terms of Vineet Narain’s Supreme Court judgment.”
The court further observed that the proceedings in the case are being held up for over 2.5 years since the challan in July 2022. “Under these compelling circumstances, salary of Under Secretary to GoI, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climatic Change is ordered to be attached and necessary intimation in this regard be given. Separate letter be also written to the Under Secretary directing to appear in person and explain the reasons behind the delay,” the court said.
Further, an application for exemption from the execution of superdari bonds against the release of the articles taken into possession, including Ipad, pen-drives and mobiles already ordered to be released as per order dated September 8, 2023, filed on behalf of accused Harmohinder.
The application moved by Enforcement Directorate under Section 44(1)(c) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act will be heard in the next hearing.
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