Shimla: A clean chit by the central government and not granting permission to prosecute senior IAS officer Subhash Ahluwalia in a disproportionate asset case notwithstanding, the Himachal Pradesh High Court today asked the union government counsel to file under oath whether any recommendation by chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) was binding on the ministry for processing a case for prosecution sanction.
The division bench consisting of Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice DD Sud passed these orders in a petition by former drug controller Sher Singh about governments being discriminatory in granting prosecution sanction against officers allegedly involved in corruption cases.
The court directed the state government to make available the proposal by it to the union government for sanctioning of the prosecution of Subhash Ahluwalia.
The court also sought the information with regard to the stage of processing of proposal with respect to the prosecution of Sanjay Gupta, another IAS against whom investigations by vigilance bureau stand completed but the agency awaits prosecution sanction from the union government to press charges in court against the accused.
In the case of Ahluwalia, the bench also directed the union government counsel to produce the remarks of CVC in relation to the prosecution sanction sought.
Whether the recommendation of the CVC is binding on the ministry for processing the case of prosecution sanction, the judges sought to know for the union government counsel. The case comes up for hearing on 23rd December.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
