- (1.) Heard counsel for the petitioners and the counsel for the State.
(2.) Petitioners in this application, have prayed for quashing the impugned order of cognizance dated 4.7.2007 passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hazaribagh whereby cognizance for the offences under section 406, 409, 420, 120(B) and 109 of the Indian Penal Code, was taken against the petitioners, on the basis of the charge sheet submitted by the police in Hazaribagh Sadar P.S. Case No. 90 of 2006 corresponding to G.R. No. 435 of 2006.
(3.) The case was registered at the police station on the basis of the written report submitted by the Executive Magistrate, Hazaribagh (Opposite Party No. 2) on 16.2.2006 against the present petitioners and others. The petitioner nos. 1 and 3 were employed as Assistant Engineers in the Hazaribagh Mines Board. The petitioner no. 2 was the Additional Collector-cum-Secretary, Mines Board, Hazaribagh. The allegations in the First Information Report summarized briefly, are as follows: i. The appointment of the petitioners Sushil Kumar and Rajesh Gupta on the post of Assistant Engineers and that of the co-accused Sanjay Singh as Junior Engineer in the Mines Board, were not made in accordance with the rules of procedure and their appointment itself, was illegal. ii. Services of the co-accused Mukhlal Singh used to be taken continuously even after his retirement from service. iii. Even after implementation of the model code of conduct on the eve of the Jharkhand Assembly Election, substantial amounts of money was given by the then Secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh by way of advance to the Engineers Sushil Kumar and Rajesh Gupta for execution of road construction work. iv. That the road construction work was not executed by the two engineers in accordance with the rules of procedure and several irregularities were committed by them involving misappropriation of Government money.;