2026:CGHC:2708-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPCR No. 24 of 2026 Pankaj Verma S/o Late H.M. Verma Aged About 60 Years R/o Om Society Road, Near Vlm School, Sundarnagar, Raipur District- Raipur (C.G.)

... Petitioner versus

1 - Union Of India Through Home Secretary, Ministry Of Home Affairs India, North Block, Cabinet Secretariat, Raisina Hills New Delhi New Delhi

2 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Chief Secretary, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya Atal Nagar Nawa Raipur District- Raipur (C.G.)

3 - Central Bureau Of Investigation C.B.I. Chhattisgarh Through The Superintendent Of Police, Cbi, Ac-Iv, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)

4 - Kundan Singh Thakur S/o Shri Hari Singh Thakur Aged About 43 Years R/o House No. 3, Near Khallari Mata Mandir, P.S. City, Kushalpur Chowk, District- Raipur (C.G.)

... Respondents (Cause title taken from Case Information System)

For Petitioner : Mr. Anand Shukla, Advocate For Respondent No.1/UOI : Ms. Annapurna Tiwari and Mr. Bhupendra Pandey, Central Government Counsel For Respondent No.2/State : Mr. Praveen Das, Additional Advocate General For Respondent No.3/CBI : Mr. B. Gopa Kumar, Advocate Hon'ble Shr i Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri R avindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge Digitally signed by VED VED P D R E A W K A A N S G H AN P D R E A W K A A N S G H AN Date: Order on Board

2026.01.22

11:09:53 +0530 Per Ramesh Sinha, C.J.

16/01/2026

1. The present Petition has been filed challenging FIR No.

RC2222020A0001 dated 05.02.2020, registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Police Station SPE/CBI/AC-IV, Bhopal, for the alleged offences under Sections 120-B, 409, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which was purportedly registered in compliance of the order dated 30.01.2020 passed by this Hon’ble Court in WPPIL No. 53/2018, wherein the Petitioner was impleaded as a respondent; however, the FIR itself records that no specific individual-wise criminal act is attributed to respondents No. 15 to 26, including the Petitioner, and that the case has been registered against unknown office bearers/servants, thereby disclosing that no offence is made out against the Petitioner, who, being at the fag end of his service career, continues to face an imminent threat of harassment and malicious prosecution so long as the impugned FIR remains in force.

2. The petitioner has filed the present writ petition claiming the following reliefs:-

“10.1 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased

to set aside/quash the impugned first information

report (F.I.R.) No. RC2222020A0001 registered at P.S.

SPE/CBI/AC-IV/Bhopal dated 05/02/2020 in so far it

relates to the petitioner.

10.2 Any other relief may also be granted by this Hon'ble court in facts and circumstances of the case.”

3. The facts of the case, in brief, are that, the Petitioner is a senior government officer presently posted as Managing Director, Chhattisgarh Vitta Vikas Nigam, Raipur, and is due to retire in the year 2027. During his service career, the Petitioner was posted as Deputy Director at Bilaspur (2013–2016) and thereafter at Ambikapur, Sarguja. For the first time, vide order dated 25/09/2017, while posted as Deputy Director, Panchayat Department, Ambikapur, the Petitioner was given additional charge of the State Resource (Nishaktjan) Centre (SRC). Subsequently, the Petitioner was promoted as Additional Director in December 2022 and later transferred as Managing Director in July 2024. The allegations forming the subject matter of the impugned FIR pertain to the period 2007–2016, during which the Petitioner was neither posted at Raipur nor holding charge of the SRC, and therefore had no role whatsoever in the alleged acts.

4. The State Resource (Nishaktjan) Centre (SRC) is a society registered in 2004 under the National Programme for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (NPRPD), with its governing body consisting entirely of ex-officio members. The Respondent N