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2020 Supreme(Ker) 324
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
S. Manikumar, Shaji P.Chaly, JJ.
P.P. Ramachandra Kaimal - Petitioner
Versus
State of Kerala & Ors. - Respondents
Wp(C).No.5006 of 2020 (S)
Decided On : 12-06-2020
For the Petitioner: Sri. R. Krishna Raj, Sri. R. Prathish, Smt. E.S. Soni, Smt. Kumari Sangeetha S.Nair , Sri. V.R. Rajesh
For the Respondent:Sri. C. P. Sudhakara Prasad, Advocate General, Sri. V. Manu, Senior Govt. Pleader, Sri. P. Narayanan, Senior Govt. Pleader, Srii. Suman Chakravarthy, Senior Govt. Pleader, By Shri K.I. Mayankutty Mather, Sc, I.A. And A.D., R3 & R4 By Adv. Sri. V.V. Asokan (Sr.), R5 By Adv. Sri. P. Vijayakumar
IMPORTANT POINTS
Art.151 of the Constitution provides that the reports of CAG relating to the accounts of the Union shall be submitted to the President, who shall cause them to be laid before each House of Parliament and the reports relating to the accounts of a State shall be submitted to the Governor of the State who shall cause them to be laid before the Legislature of the State. The audit reports, which are submitted by CAG are, thus, subject to scrutiny by the Parliament or the Legislature of the State, as the case may be
Headnote:
The Constitution of India- Art. 226, 151;;The Comptroller and Auditor General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 -Whether this Court can grant relief’s merely placing reliance on the CAG's report. The CAG's report is always subject to parliamentary debates and it is possible that PAC can accept the ministry's objection to the CAG report or reject the report of the CAG. The CAG, indisputably is an independent constitutional functionary, however, it is for the Parliament to decide whether after receiving the report i.e. PAC to make its comments on the CAG's report.
Statement of facts:
Petitioner is a retired person from Coal India Ltd., and a senior citizen. His grievance is that in spite of the fact that 25 numbers of 5.56 mm Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles and 12061 live cartridges are missing from the custody of police department, no steps are taken by the authorities in tracing and recovering the same.
Finding of the court:
On physical verification, no rifles are lost and the said statement for and on behalf of the State is not materially disputed by the petitioner in his reply affidavit. So also, a case has been registered by a specialised agency of the police department in respect of the missing live cartridges. That apart, questions relating to missing of rifles as put forth by the petitioner and the verification done by State officials, as well as the CAG are all factual circumstances, which cannot be deciphered by this Court at this juncture with the least materials produced by the petitioner in this writ petition. We are also of the view that it is a subject matter of consideration before the State Legislature, and especially the Public Accounts Committee constituted as per the Rules of Procedure for the Conduct of Business in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, and it may not be appropriate at all for this Court to interfere with the proceedings pending before the State Legislature.
Result: Writ petition dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
S. Manikumar, J.
Instant public interest writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:
1. Direct the Union and State Governments to entrust an agency like CBI or NIA with the investigation of the reported shortage of 25 numbers of 5.56 mm INSAS rifles and 12061 live cartridges from the custody of State Police, as reported in Exhibit-P1 by the issue of writ of mandamus or such other writ, order or direction.
2. Direct the State and Union Governments to take immediate action to trace out and recover the missing 5.56 mm INSAS rifles and 12061 live cartridges which is reported to be missing from the custody of State Police as reported in Exhibit-P1 by the issue of a writ of mandamus or such other writ or order or direction.
3. Direct the State and Union Governments to entrust the task of taking physical stock of the entire arms and ammunition of the State Police as recommended in Exhibit-P1 to any Central agency like Central Bureau of Investigation or National Investigation Agency by the issue of a writ of mandamus or such writ or order or direction.
2. Petitioner is a retired person from Coal India Ltd., and a senior citizen. His grievance is that in spite of the fact that 25 numbers of 5.56 mm Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles and 12061 live cartridges are missing from the custody of police department, no steps are taken by the authorities in tracing and recovering the same. The background facts submitted by the petitioner to substantiate the aforesaid contention is that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), New Delhi, respondent No.4, has tabled before the State Assembly the report for the year ended March, 2018. In the said report, at paragraph 2.10.3, physical stock of weapons and live cartridges with the Special Armed Battalion, Thiruvananthapuram, was found to be short. Respondent No.4 has also reported that joint physical verification was conducted in the Special Armed Battalion on 16.10.2018, to find out whether the physical stock of arms and ammunition tallied with the stock register and whether the system of accounting of arms and ammunition was robust and reliable. The joint verification conducted in the Arms of SAP Battalion along with the Assistant Commandant of the Battalion revealed shortage of 25 nos. of 5.56 mm rifles and 12061 live cartridges, which include 1835 cartridges for INSAS and 1578 for AK-47. It was also reported that out of the 1261 missing cartridges, 250 numbers of 9 mm drill cartridges were replaced by dummy cartridges and the report further reveals that the shortage of cartridges is from the year 2000 onwards.
3. The case projected by the petitioner is that even though explanations as sought for by the concerned officials were given regarding missing of rifles to the effect that the rifles were issued to Armed Reserve Camp, Thiruvananthapuram, in February, 2011 under proper acknowledgement and that the errors shown in the maintenance records/receipts have been found and sorted out, the 4th respondent in consequence, required the details, including the body numbers of 660 rifles, stated to have been received from the police chief stores and the distribution to various units under permanent transfer, no appropriate reply is given. It is, therefore, submitted by the petitioner that there is suspicion existing regarding the actual situation of arms and ammunition, which were reported to be missing by the 4th respondent. It is also a serious security breach and the matter involves security of the nation and the people of the State, especially in the light of the fact that the nation is under serious threat of terrorists, including maoists and ISIS, and there are several intelligent reports that infiltration has been done by the agents of these groups in the civil society.
4. The 1st respondent -State of Kerala, has filed a detailed counter affidavit refuting the averments contained in the writ petition. It is contended that the report of the third respondent for the year
