Plea Filed In Supreme Court, Challenging the Delhi High Court Order That Had Dismissed the Prosecution of BSF DG Rakesh Asthana; Apex Court Adjourns Hearing
(Judicial Quest News Network)
A Special Leave Petition filed against the impugned judgement passed by Ld. Single Judge of Delhi High Court while dismissing the Criminal Writ petition of Mandamus, filed by petitioner, whereby it was prayed only for issuing directions to R2 & R4, State bodies, to adjudicate, enquire, investigate and to launch consequential criminal prosecution against Rakesh Asthana. Upon the complaints/representations submitted and lying pending with the respective respondents.
The Supreme Court adjourned the matter for four weeks while hearing a Petition filed by a Dentist from Chandigarh against Rakesh Asthana, the then Special Director of CBI, seeking his criminal prosecution under Prevention of Corruption Act on part of CVC and CBI where his criminal complaints are already pending since long.
A bench headed by Hon’ble Mr. Justice U U Lalit and Hon’ble Mr. Justice B R Gavai of Supreme Court directed the matter to be listed after four weeks.
The plea also sought a stay on the impugned judgement dated 15th Feb 2021 as an interim relief.
During the hearing, Advocate Sushil Tekriwal, appeared for the petitioner Mohit Dhawan and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Rakesh Asthana.
The SLP before the Apex Court has stated that contrary to the prayers, the Delhi High Court enters into the disputed question of facts and gives findings on the innocence of R1 by exceeding its brief and territory owing allegiance to a private respondent in an extraordinary writ jurisdiction bypassing entire constitutional obligations.
It is further submitted in the SLP that This judgement leads to a constitutional crisis and manifest and explicit travesty and injustice. The basic fundamentals of a Writ mandate are seriously breached in the impugned judgement.
The Petitioner mentioned in his SLP that The Supreme Court earlier had granted permission and liberty to pursue remedies under the law, on 8th February 2021, to Dr. Mohit Dhawan, had filed the Criminal Writ Petition before the Delhi High Court against high profile bureaucrat Rakesh Asthana, the present Director General of BSF & also having additional charge of Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau who also happens to be the former Special Director of CBI seeking his criminal prosecution under section 7 & 7 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The matter was subsequently dismissed by the Delhi High Court against which the present appeal was filed which was listed today for hearing.
It has been alleged, against Rakesh Asthana, in the said petition that while serving as Special Director of CBI, he hijacked the entire criminal justice system in connivance with other police officers of Chandigarh conspiring to obtain undue advantage, for himself and his close family friends, with the intention to cause performance of his public duty improperly and dishonestly.
It is further alleged that Asthana did this by himself as well as conniving with other public servants firstly by falsely and illegally implicating and intimidating the petitioner dentist by abusing his official position through corrupt means and corrupt activities and further attempting to extort money from him through police officers in connivance with them in the garb of settling the matter by exercising his personal influence in contravention of various provision of Prevention of Corruption Act, particularly Section 7 & 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It has been further alleged in the petition that complaint to this effect was submitted before the Central Vigilance Commissioner and Central Bureau of Investigation on 18.9.2019, 27.7.2020 and 17.8.2020 but the said authorities are sitting over the same and no action or adjudication or prosecution has been initiated yet against Asthana in consequence to the said complaints.
The present SLP has been filed by Advocate Venkateshwara rao anumolu and drawn by Advocates Sushil Tekriwal,Anupam Singla and Mamta Tekriwal.
It has been further said in the petition that the entire matter be directed to be inquired and investigated and Asthana must be prosecuted accordingly as per law since he is an alleged criminal in uniform and the kingpin who runs the gang of extortionists by intimidating and implicating the innocents including the petitioner herein.
It is further alleged that Asthna is enormously powerful and highly connected and has become totally immune and hence the intervention of the apex court is warranted immediately.
The petitioner, Dhawan was booked in a cheating case back in 2018 where a complaint was filed by Gertrude D’souza,a US Citizen, who had got a implant procedure done at his clinic in 2017.
Another cheating case was filed against him in September 2020 by another women, Enid Nayabundi, from Nairobi, Kenya.
Dhawan had alleged before the Punjab & Haryana High Cort That petitioner has become a victim of the malice, vendetta
and extortion unleashed by Shri Rakesh Asthana, former
Special Director, CBI and presently Director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) & BSF, Government of India, New Delhi as also the police and administrative authorities of UT, Chandigarh, acting at the instance of one Ms. Gertrude D’Souza, a ·close associate of Shri Rakesh Asthana.
The unprecedented hounding, gross misuse of police and CBI machinery, repeated criminal attempts and extortion and fleecing of the petitioner, besides a series of consistent threats, aided and abetted by police machinery has made life hell for the petitioner, as would be brought out in the succeeding paras. Sinister attempts to tarnish.
Then · the official of Chandigarh P9lice visited· his clinic repeatedly for the refu.nd of amount paid by Mrs. Gertrude Dsouza and he was. also summoned by the Chandigarh Police various times.
He was threatened to make the payment of Rs. 50.00 lacs to settle the dispute with Mrs. Gertrude Dsouza. However, when he refused to refund the said huge payment, false FIR no. 76 of 2018 under Section 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC with was registered with Police Station Sector 19, Chandigarh, against
him by forging the record and emails, so that identity of Mr. Rakesh Asthana be concealed. The petitioner was threatened several times to withdraw his complaint against Mr. Rakesh Asthana and others and in this background FIR No. 75 dated 21.09.2020 under Sections 419 and 420 IP.C was registered in; Police Station Sector 19, Chandigarh.
The Punjab & Haryana High Court had observed that the petitioner’s assertions that there was a close proximity of former CBI special director with D’Souza were mere assumptions and not substantiated by any material on record.
As regards, the alleged proximity of a senior police official and his wife with the complainant in FIR No. 76 dated19.03.2018, the same have not been substantiated by way of any cogent proof.
Even otherwise, if a person appears in the friend list of a Facebook page of any public servant, it cannot be assumed that an official shall favour such a person in an illegal manner and manoeuvre investigation of a crime.
It is indeed intriguing as to how the petitioner gained access to the Facebook account of this police official.
Facebook accounts are privy to the account holder and the petitioner must be put to strict proof as to how has he been able to access the Facebook account of a police official and where from he obtained the Facebook conversations
-The High Court had added that the high-ranking police officer who has never remained posted in Chandigarh and having graduated with
the husband of complainant from same university/college in the year 1982 would not necessarily lead to any inference that he was instrumental in getting the investigation conducted in a biased manner.
It appears to the Court that name of this officer has been unnecessarily dragged into the litigation for ulterior motive with a view to put pressure upon the Chandigarh police to act according to petitioner’s
whims.
