New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has refused to quash an FIR against a former bureaucrat who allegedly promised a job to a man on compassionate ground and allured him to lodge a fabricated complaint against Delhi government's special secretary (vigilance) in connection with a cash-for-compassionate jobs scam.

The high court dismissed the petition of former DANICS officer A V Prem Nath, who was prematurely retired by the Centre in October 2023 when he was posted with the Delhi government's Urban Development Department and was under suspension over allegations of molesting a minor.

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Nath sought quashing of the FIR lodged against him by Delhi Police for the alleged offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy among others.

The FIR was also lodged for alleged offences of cheating by personation, forgery for the purpose of cheating and using forged documents as genuine under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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Nath was a 1997 batch officer of Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Civil Services (DANICS) cadre.

"Be that as it may, the matter is still under investigation. The exercise of collecting evidence in support of the offences alleged in the present FIR is still underway. The present case is not one where it can be safely concluded at this stage that no offence is made out," Justice Amit Sharma said in an order passed on Monday.

The high court said it was prima facie clear that the email-ID created by Nath falls within the definition of 'creating a false document'.

"In view of the above discussion and in the facts and circumstances of the case, this court is of the considered opinion that no case for exercise of jurisdiction under Section 482 of the CrPC for quashing of the impugned FIR is made out. The present petition is dismissed and disposed of accordingly," it said.

The FIR was lodged by Nakul Kashyap stating his father was an employee at LNJP Hospital and passed away in 2016 while on duty and thereafter, he applied to the Delhi Secretariat for employment on compassionate grounds but no action was taken.

Kashyap said thereafter, his relatives introduced him to Nath who claimed he is acquainted with Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and will help in securing the job on compassionate grounds.

According to the prosecution, Kashyap had alleged that after few months, Nath showed him some documents and told him he has had a conversation with Bhardwaj and once a complaint is submitted against YVVJ Rajshekhar, Special Secretary (Services and vigilance) in the Delhi government, they will get him employed.

The prosecution claimed that during the "enquiries conducted into the complaint" against Rajshekhar, it came to Kashyap's knowledge that in the complaint, it has been stated that Rakshekhar allegedly made caste-based remarks against him, which was "false".

"The complainant never even met Rajshekhar. It further came to the complainant's knowledge that a fake email-ID has been created in his name, using which complaints against Rajshekhar have been sent to various persons," the FIR said.

Seeking quashing of the criminal case, Nath argued before the high court that a perusal of the FIR reflected that the ingredients of the offences for which it has been registered are not made out. He claimed that the complainant has an "ulterior motive" for registration of the FIR and is a "result of vendetta" against him, "perpetrated" by Rajshekhar, who is a senior IAS officer.

The police, in its status report, told the court that during investigation, it was revealed that accused Prem Nath due to personal grudge with Rajshekhar, made a conspiracy to implicate him in a false case and consequently he duped the complainant by alluring to provide him a job on compassionate ground and lodged false and fabricated complaint against Rajshekhar on behalf of the complainant.

The high court noted the facts demonstrate that Kashyap had filed complaints against Rajshekhar, however, the contention is that these were filed at the instance of Nath on the basis of a dishonest inducement to get him a job on compassionate grounds after the demise of his father.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)