- (1.) The only question raised in this writ petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, is as to whether FIR No. R.C. 0062003A0019 dated 05.10.2003 lodged under Section 13(2) read with Section 13 (1) (e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as "the PC Act") against the petitioner herein to investigate into the matter of alleged disproportionate assets is beyond the scope of the directions passed by this Court in the order dated 18.09.2003 in I.A. No. 376 of 2003 in W.P. (C) No. 13381 of 1984 titled M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India and Others, 2003 8 SCC 696
(2.) The case of the petitioner as stated in the writ petition, is summarized hereunder: (a) On the date of filing of this writ petition before this Court, the petitioner was the Chief Minister of U.P. Earlier also, the petitioner had been the Chief Minister of U.P. for three times. The petitioner had also served as a Member of Parliament many a time both as a Member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and had also served as a Member of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of the State of U.P. The petitioner is a law graduate and had been a teacher from 1977 to 1984. At present, the petitioner is the President of a National Political Party called as "Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)", which is one of the six National Parties recognized by the Election Commission of India. (b) This Court, by order dated 16.07.2003 in I.A. No. 387 of 2003 in Writ Petition (C) No. 13381 of 1984 titled M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India & Ors. directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry on the basis of an I.A. filed in the aforesaid writ petition alleging various irregularities committed by the officers/persons in the Taj Heritage Corridor Project and to submit a Preliminary Report. (c) By means of an order dated 21.08.2003, this Court issued certain directions to the CBI to interrogate and verify the assets of the persons concerned with regard to outflow of Rs. 17 crores which was alleged to have been released without proper sanction for the said Project. When the case was taken up for hearing on 11.09.2003, a report was submitted by the CBI and it was directed to be kept in a sealed cover in the Registry. (d) This Court, in its further order dated 18.09.2003, on the basis of the report dated 11.09.2003, granted further time to the CBI for verification of the assets of the officers/persons involved. The CBI- Respondent No. 2 herein submitted a report on 18.09.2003 before this Court which formed the basis of order dated 18.09.2003 wherein the CBI was directed to conduct an inquiry with respect to the execution of the Taj Heritage Corridor Project under Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) Area at Agra. (e) Pursuant to the orders of this Court, an FIR was lodged on 05.10.2003 being RC No. 0062003A0018/2003 under Section 120-B read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC and under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the PC Act against several persons including the petitioner herein. In the said FIR, certain details and several developments which took place with regard to the aforesaid Project have been given. As per the allegations contained in the report dated 11.09.2003, several irregularities were allegedly being found in the aforesaid Project. Pursuant to the same, investigation has been completed and the report was forwarded to obtain the sanction from the competent authority, namely, the Governor for prosecuting the Chief Minster of the State. The Governor, by order dated 03.06.2007, declined to accord sanction to prosecute the petitioner. (f) According to the petitioner, in the aforesaid FIR, it was stated that this Court also directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry pertaining to the assets of the officers/individuals concerned in the aforesaid Project as mentioned in the judgment passed by this Court in the aforesaid case in order to ascertain whether any mis-appropriation of funds have been done with regard to outflow of Rs. 17 crores released for the construction of said Project. A perusal of the order dated 18.09.2003 would reveal that whatever directions were issued by this Court were only in respect of Rs. 17 crores alleged to have been released without proper sanction and there is not even a whisper about making an investigation into any other assets of the persons involved in general. In other words, the scope of the order of this Court was limited to the extent of money released in the said Project and not otherwise. This is clear from the order of this Court dated 18.09.2003 wherein it had specifically observed about lodging of FIR only with regard to Taj Heritage Corridor Project case. That order nowhere mentioned about lodging of second FIR in regard to the disproportionate assets of the petitioner. (g) It is the further case of the petitioner that contrary to the orders of this Court, with mala fide intentions, the CBI registered another FIR being R.C. No. 19 of 2003 on the same date i.e. 05.10.2003 only against the petitioner alleging therein that in pursuance of the orders dated 21.08.2003, 11.09.2003 and 18.09.2003 passed by this Court, they conducted an inquiry with regard to the acquiring of disproportionate movable and immovable assets by the petitioner and her close relatives and on the basis of this inquiry lodged the said FIR, whereas there was no direction or observation by this Court to inquire into the assets of the petitioner not related to the said Project case. (h) The said FIR has been lodged by Shri K.N. Tewari, Superintendent of Police, CBI/ACP, Lucknow, however, in the column of complaint at page No. 2 of the FIR, the name of the complainant/informant has been mentioned as Shri Inder Pal, Assistant Registrar, PIL Branch, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi even though no such order or direction issued by him for registration of the case. It is further pointed out that Shri Inder Pal has not signed any such FIR as complainant/informant. Pursuant to the impugned FIR - R.C. No. 19 of 2003 the CBI conducted raids, search and seizure operations at all the premises of the petitioner and her relatives and seized all the bank accounts. (i) The petitioner has made several representations to the CBI officials, the State Minister of Personnel and the Hon'ble Prime Minister who heads the Personnel Department drawing their attention that the Supreme Court had not given any such direction or authority to the CBI to lodge an FIR in respect to the alleged disproportionate assets and investigate the entire assets of the petitioner from the year 1995 which have no relation with the case of Taj Heritage Corridor Project which came into being only in August, 2003. In spite of several reminders and further representations, till date no communication has been received from the CBI. The absence of any reply by any of the authorities including the CBI shows that there was no direction or authority to the CBI in the order dated 18.09.2003 to lodge an FIR or to investigate into the assets of the petitioner which are not related to the said Project. Hence, it was incumbent upon the CBI to comply with the provisions of Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (in short 'DSPE Act') which makes it obligatory to obtain the consent of the Government of the concerned State to confer jurisdiction on the CBI to investigate in any case arising within the jurisdiction of a State. In the present case, FIR was lodged and investigation was conducted without obtaining consent of the State Government which is in flagrant violation of Section 6 of the DSPE Act. In the absence of the consent of the State Government, the whole exercise of the CBI about lodging of FIR and investigating into the assets of the petitioner not related to Taj Heritage Corridor Project is without jurisdiction and, therefore, the same is non est and void ab initio. (j) It is further pointed out that this Court in its order dated 25.10.2004, after perusing the investigation reports filed by the CBI, held that no link was found between the irregularities alleged to have been found in respect to the assets matter and the Taj Heritage Corridor Project which was the subject-matter of the reference before the Special Bench. (k) The fact that this Court had stopped monitoring the assets case was again reiterated in the order dated 07.08.2006 passed by this Court. (l) On 27.11.2006, this Court finally decided the issue in respect to the FIR being R.C. No. 18 relating to the Taj Heritage Corridor matter reported in M.C. Mehta (Taj Corridor Scam) vs. Union of India & Ors., 2007 1 SCC 110. In the said judgment, this Court observed that it should not embark upon an enquiry in regard to the allegations of criminal misconduct in order to form an opinion one way or the other so as to prima facie determine guilt of a person or otherwise. When the matter came up before the Governor of U.P. to grant or refuse sanction for prosecution, he sought legal opinion from the Additional Solicitor General of India and based on his opinion and on appreciation of entire materials, the Governor has concluded that the petitioner was not even remotely connected with the sanction of the said Project or the payment released for the same. After the above order of the Governor, the directions given by this Court in the order dated 18.09.2003 were fully complied with including in respect to consider violations of the provisions of the PC Act. After this, there was no justification or authority with the CBI to continue with the investigation in other personal assets of the petitioner. (m) On 05.06.2007, the CBI moved an application before the Special Judge, Anti Corruption Bureau, (CBI), Lucknow informing that the Governor had refused to grant sanction. On perusal of all the materials including the order of the Governor declining to grant sanction, the Special Judge held that in the absence of sanction to prosecute the petitioner, the Court has no jurisdiction to take cognizance. (n) The order of the Governor was also challenged before this Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 434 of 2007. However, this Court, by order dated 06.08.2007, dismissed the same as withdrawn. Even thereafter, the petitioner has made several representations to the Director, CBI to drop the investigation on the basis of the aforesaid FIR. However, the CBI is bent upon harassing the petitioner. Hence, she approached this Court by filing the present writ petition. Stand of the CBI-Respondent No.2:
(3.) Pursuant to the notice issued on 15.05.2008, the CBI-Respondent No.2 herein has filed its counter affidavit wherein it was stated that in the order dated 18.09.2003 of this Court, there was a clear direction to register an FIR for investigating into disproportionate assets of the petitioner on the ground that in the said order it was mentioned that "apart from what has been stated in the reports with regard to the assets, the learned ASG Mr. Altaf Ahmad has submitted that further inquiry/investigation is necessary by the CBI". It is further stated that the validity of the aforesaid FIRs was not disturbed by the Allahabad High Court by its order dated 22.10.2003 on the ground that the FIR in question was filed as per the directions of this Court. It is further stated by the CBI that the FIR No. RC 19 dated 05.10.2003 under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(e) of the PC Act reveal the details of huge amount of disproportionate assets possessed by the petitioner and her family members beyond their known sources of income. Further case of the petitioner: ;