IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that vague complaints do not bar investigations into serious allegations of fraud, particularly in public office contexts.

ORDER :

The petitioners/accused Nos. 1 to 9 are knocking at the doors of this Court calling in question registration of a crime in Crime No.98 of 2023 for offences punishable under Sections 468, 464, 465, 468, 471, 409, 420 and 120B of the IPC, pending before the XLII Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru.

2. Facts, in brief, adumbrated are as follows:-

The petitioners at the relevant point in time i.e., between 2016 and 2023 were in the Council, all of them being political entities appointed as Chairman and Members of a particular Committee; the Committee known as Bagair Hukum Saguvali Samithi (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Samithi’ for short). Accused No.1/1st petitioner was at the relevant point in time a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Belur constituency. He was the Chairman of the Samithi. Accused Nos.2 to 4 were its members and accused Nos.5 to 10 were the erstwhile members. Accused Nos.11 to 14 are the Tahsildars who were functioning at the relevant point in time at the said place and were Secretaries of the Samithi. The allegation revolves around the functioning of the said Samithi. It is alleged that the Samithi has created records and bartered away Government lands to an extent of 2750 acres to 1430 bogus beneficiaries, which are valued at more than Rs.750/- crores in the constituency of accused No.1, who was the Chairman of the Samithi. Based upon this allegation, the 2nd respondent/complainant seeks to knock at the doors of the jurisdictional Police to register the complaint. No action was taken. He knocks at the doors of the learned Magistrate invoking Section 200 of the Cr.P.C. seeking a reference for conduct of investigation into the allegations so made. The complaint is referred for investigation to the jurisdictional Police under Section 156(3) of the Cr.P.C., after which a crime comes to be registered in Crime No.98 of 2023 for the afore-quoted offences. This Court by its order dated 16.06.2023 directed that no precipitate action be taken against the petitioners and the same is subsisting even as on date.

3. Heard Sri Ashok Haranahalli, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioners, Sri B.N. Jagadeesha, learned Additional State Public Prosecutor appearing for respondent No.1 and Sri S. Umapathi, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.2.

4. The learned senior counsel would seek to contend that the complaint is bald and vague. What are the lands that are granted or what are the documents that are fabricated to grant the lands in favour of fictitious persons is not forthcoming from the complaint. If the complaint is so bald, the learned senior counsel would submit that what investigation the police would do, is un-understandable. He would submit that all the allegations are untrue and some of the accused being Government servants, no sanction is accorded under Section 197 of the Cr.P.C. The learned senior counsel would submit that the present complaint is an abuse of the process of law and the members of the Samithi have acted strictly in consonance with law.

5. Per contra, the learned counsel for the complainant would take this Court through the statement of objections so filed by him and reports of Government servants filed by themselves when enquiry was directed to be held by the Assistant Commissioner into the illegalities. The Assistant Commissioner clearly holds that all the lands granted were bogus based upon fake genealogical tree certificates and granted to fake beneficiaries. The Government land in this manner is illegally donated for personal gains of the members of the Chairman, members of the Samithi and officers. He would contend that the question of sanction would arise only after investigation. The matter should be permitted to be investigated.

6. The learned Additional Special Public Prosecutor would toe the lines of the learned counsel for the complainant and would contend that investigation is in progress and in the light of the direction not to precipitate, the inve