Can’t stop ex-Orissa DGP from being promoted: HC

The Centre is set to take a call on the post of CBI chief next week and Prakash Mishra is considered a frontrunner.

In a major relief to Prakash Mishra, former Orissa DGP and special secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Orissa High Court, in its interim order on Wednesday, said the vigilance case lodged by the Orissa government would not hinder his promotion or future posting.

Hearing the petition by Mishra seeking quashing of the vigilance FIR against him, Justice S C Parija also ordered that no coercive action be taken against him till the case is adjudicated. The court also asked the state government to submit the case diary of the FIR lodged against Mishra.

The interim order comes as a relief for Mishra as the Centre is set to decide on the appointment of the next CBI director next week. Among the names being considered for the post, the 1977-batch officer is the senior most and is considered a frontrunner.

On September 20, the Bhubaneswar vigilance division had registered a case against Mishra under section 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 409 and 120-B of Indian Penal Code, alleging that during his tenure as CMD of Orissa Police Housing and Welfare Corporation, an advance payment of Rs 59 crore was given some steel and cement suppliers in 2009 against existing rules.

Mishra was chairman-cum-managing director of OPHWC between 2006 and 2009, in the rank of additional DGP. After the FIR was filed, Mishra asked the Orissa government why it made him state police chief in June 2012 if if it had found him “extremely corrupt” between 2006 and 2009.

He also alleged that the FIR was a conspiracy to hamper his chances of becoming CBI chief.

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