Uttarakhand HC dismisses CJM's order to file FIR against IIT director in embezzlement case

The Uttarakhand High Court has quashed an order issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Roorkee for filing an FIR against the IIT, Roorkee director and other officials of the institute in an embezzlement case.

Nainital: The Uttarakhand High Court has quashed an order issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Roorkee for filing an FIR against the IIT, Roorkee director and other officials of the institute in an embezzlement case.

Justice RC Khulbe of the high court dismissed the lower court's order on the grounds that two FIRs cannot be filed in the same case. The case is related to IIT junior superintendent Dheeraj Upadhyay against whom an FIR was lodged by the IIT administration in December 2020 for his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of Rs 2.5 crore. His services had also been terminated by the IIT administration.

Subsequently, a former employee of the premier institute, Manpal Sharma, had filed an application in the Roorkee CJM's court seeking an FIR against Director Ajit Chaturvedi, Assistant Registrar Jitendra Dimri and Dean Manish Shrikhande too in the case alleging their involvement. The CJM court had ordered that an FIR be lodged against the officials. The lower court's order has been challenged by the officers named in the FIR before the high court.

During the hearing on Wednesday, advocate Vipul Sharma, appearing for Chaturvedi, referred to the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of TV news anchor Arnab Goswami, and said FIR cannot be filed twice in a single case. As an FIR had already been lodged against the accused by IIT, no second FIR was possible in the case, Sharma said. After the hearing, the high court set aside the order of the lower court for registering the FIR against the IIT director and others.

(PTI)