In a relief to IPS officer Ajay Hilori, the High Court of Karnataka has quashed the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him for allegedly not acting against the promoters of I-Monetary Advisory (IMA), which has allegedly cheated thousands of depositors of around ₹4,000 crore.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing a petition filed Mr. Hilori challenging the charge sheet.
Same as departmental inquiry
The court pointed out that the charges filed against Mr. Hilori in the CBI’s chargesheet are the same set of charges levelled against him in the Departmental Inquiry, in which the all the major allegations, including the allegation of demand and acceptance of bribe from IMA promoters, could not be established.
Mr. Hilori, the court said, was only found to be negligent in sending a report on IMA to the City Police Commissioner without verifying the report submitted by his sub-ordinate officer.
The court also noted that the State government on June 14, 2023, dropped the departmental proceedings against him without imposing any penalty but merely issuing him a warning, which is not a part of any penalty prescribed under the All India Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969.
Bleak chances of conviction
When the evidences, witnesses and documents in the chargesheet are the same that were produced before the departmental inquiry, the conviction of the petitioner in the trial is absolutely bleak, the court said.
“The bleakness of such conviction must lead to the closure of the proceedings against the petitioner, as the petitioner cannot be made to undergo the rigmarole of trial and the sword of pendency of a criminal case hanging on his head, notwithstanding the fact that he would not be convicted for the offences so alleged against him in the criminal trial,” the court observed.
Meanwhile, the court directed the petitioner would be entitled to all consequential benefits, be it benefits of conditions of service, service benefits or any other incidental benefits that would flow from quashing of the chargesheet against him.
