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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
J.B. PARDIWALA, J.
PARSHOTTAM ODHAVJIBHAI SOLANKI - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT - Respondent
R/Special Criminal Application No. 5338 of 2015, 207 of 2016, 8971 of 2017
Decided on : 21-12-2018
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 - Sections 7, 8, 13(1)(a) and 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) - Complainant is doing the business of fish thus getting the dam, lake or pond on lease and purchasing fishes from the contractor who are breeding the fishes, he was selling and in some of cases, he was getting lake on rent from Gram Panchayat - Minister of Fishers Industry of the Gujarat Government of this case has given these dams to his henchmen and other some Persons by getting illegal financial benefits means getting illegal gratification without calling tenders and going against the policy of the government to give on rent the dams as per the rules and regulations of the government in his own way and while making inquiry thereof the complainant came to know that by abusing and misusing his post, without calling for the tenders and going against the policy of the Government, by receiving and obtaining illegal gratification, the accused has given such contracts to 11 Parties and thereafter, other 47 fishing contractual agreement regarding fisheries to various other parties without issuing tender by taking bribe - Held, As noted above, even at the stage of recording of the precharge evidence, it is open for the accused persons to cross-examine the witnesses - At the end of recording of the precharge evidence, if the writ applicants are of the view that no case is made out for the purpose of framing of the charge, they can prefer an appropriate application for discharge under the provisions of Section 245 of the Code - However, at this stage, Court does not see any good ground to interfere with the impugned order - This legislative intent was clearly spelled out by the Courts in various judicial pronouncements with definite emphasis on need for expeditious disposal. These provisions sufficiently indicate the intention of the Legislature and also the object of the Act that cases of corruption shall be tried speedily and completed as early as possible - This is the policy of the Act and it underlies Section 3 also - Petitions rejected. (Paras 68, 69)
1. Since the issues raised in all the captioned petitions are the same and the challenge is also to the selfsame order passed by the Special Judge issuing process against the accused applicants for the offence punishable under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, those were heard analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment and order.
2. Avarice is a common frailty of mankind and Robert Walpole's famous pronouncement that all men have their price, notwithstanding the unsavoury cynicism that it suggests, is not very far from truth. As far back as more than two centuries ago, it was Burke who cautioned: “Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot last long”. In more recent years, Romain Rolland lamented that France fell because there was corruption without indignation. Corruption has, in it, very dangerous potentialities. Corruption, a word of wide connotation has, in respect of almost all the spheres of our day to day life, all the world over, the limited meaning of allowing decisions and actions to be influenced not by the rights or wrongs of a case but by the prospects of monetary gains or other selfish considerations. If even a fraction of what was the vox pupuli about the magnitude of corruption to be true, then it would not be far removed from the truth, that it is the rampant corruption indulged in with impunity by highly placed persons that has led to economic unrest in this country. If one is asked to name one sole factor that effectively arrested the progress of our society to prosperity, undeniably it is corruption. If the society in a developing country faces a menace greater than even the one from the hired assassins to its law and order, then that is from the corrupt elements at the higher echelons of the Government and of the political parties. It is one of the greatest challenges before the humanity. It also lies at the root of several other problems facing the humanity. Corruption can perhaps be described as the biggest factor responsible for failure and near collapse of legal and moral fibre of the nations and societies the world over. It undermines the freedom of an individual, weakens the rights of the people, threatens the very existence of the democratic institutions, and jeopardises the safety and security of the state. If governance is a matter of joke today, making it a laughing stock and leaving it in a pitiable situation, and if cynicism towards the system is the order of the day, the full blame therefor should perhaps go to corruption. Development is perhaps the biggest victim of corruption, having suffered adversely due to its ill-effects. Hundreds of millions of people are compelled to live below poverty line with no sight of hope. Physical infrastructure development, such as roads, railways, bridges, water supply, electricity, etc., and the human infrastructure such as the education, health, etc., all take a beating, quantitatively and qualitatively, due to the omnipresent corruption. The problem of corruption is more acute in a developing country like India where this villain has fully abducted the development from the lives of people.
3. For the sake of convenience, the Special Criminal Application No.207 of 2016 is treated as the lead matter.
4. By this writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ applicant, a member of the Gujarat State Legislative Assembly and a sitting Minister, has prayed for the following reliefs:
“(a) YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to admit and allow this application;
(b) YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to quash and set aside the order dated 12.08.2015 passed by the learned Additional District Judge, Gandhinagar in Criminal Enquiry No. 1 of 2012 at Exhibit-1, wherein directions issued to Registry, Criminal Branch. To register case and issue process against the petitioner.
(c) To quash and set aside the order dated 17.08.2015 passed at Exhibit-l in Special Case (ACB) No.4 of 2015 by the Incharge Princ
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