ACB Should Refrain from Taking Coercive Action against IAS Neeraj K Pawan: High Court

A single bench of Justice Sudesh Bansal gave this order in a seven-year-old case of cheating and corruption involving IAS officer Neeraj K Pawan.

Jaipur (Rajasthan):A single judge bench of the High Court on Friday granted relief to IAS officer Neeraj K Pawan by requesting that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to refrain from taking any coercive action against Pawan in a seven-year-old case of cheating and corruption.

In a letter dated March 14, Pawan was asked to appear before ACB additional superintendent Rajendra Singh at the ACB office on Saturday at 10 AM regarding a case that was filed on March 30, 2017, under Sections 13(1)d (government servants can be prosecuted only if it was found that they abused their position and gained pecuniary gain), 13(2) (Any public servant who commits criminal misconduct shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than one year but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and 120 B (Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The single bench of Justice Sudesh Bansal gave this order while conducting the preliminary hearing on the criminal petition of Pawan. The court said that no punitive action should be taken against the petitioner on the basis of the letter sent by ACB to the petitioner on March 14.

ACB had issued a letter to Pawan, the then Mission Director of the Health Department, asking him to appear before the ACB on March 23 to present the charge sheet in the case.

On February 25, the petitioner came to know through a newspaper that the Central Government had approved the prosecution against him. When the petitioner sought information regarding prosecution sanction under the Right to Information Act (RTI), the Central Government refused to provide any information on the matter.

Senior advocate Kamlakar Sharma, along with other petitioner counsel, argued on Twitter that Pawan was not included in the FIR and had no connection to the matter whatsoever.