Bombay HC asks customs dept to pay informer due reward money

The petition said while an initial payment of Rs 5 lakh as reward was made to the petitioner, the balance amount as per the reward policy of the Ministry of Finance had not been paid to him. The petitioner sought payment of Rs 48 lakh as the “pending” amount.

Hearing the petition, Justices B R Gavai and A S Gadkari observed, “Non-payment of the reward amount within a stipulated time will have frustrating effect on the reward policy framed by the Government of India, which may perhaps result in not getting the information of the unscrupulous and anti-social elements and would cause loss to the government exchequer.”

The court has now directed the customs department to make a payment in accordance with the government’s policy, after adjusting the amount already paid, within three months.

In an affidavit submitted by the customs department, it had admitted that the informant had helped it catch the cargo but said the informant could not claim the balance amount of reward “as a matter of right”. It further submitted that as per the reward policy of April 16, 2004, “the reward is purely an ex gratia payment which, subject to guidelines, may be granted on the absolute discretion of the department’s rewards committee”. The petitioner’s lawyer, however, maintained that people like the informant were providing information to government authorities with a legitimate expectation that they would get reward as per the guidelines framed by the Government of India.

“We are of the considered opinion that the guidelines enunciated in the reward policy are to be adhered to, by all the concerned and the discretion as mentioned in said policy, which is given to the Reward Committee, cannot be treated as an unfettered power with the authority competent to grant reward. This may lead to frustrate the basic intention of the Government behind framing the policy,” said the court.

ruhi.bhasin@expressindia.com