Order

REPORTABLE

1. By way of filing instant criminal misc. petition under Section 528 BNSS, 2023, the petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:-

“It is, therefore, most humbly and respectfully prayed that this Criminal Misc. Petition may kindly be allowed and the impugned F.I.R. No.349/2022 registered at Police Station ACB Jodhpur, and further consequential proceedings pursuant to impugned FIR may kindly be quashed and set-aside.”

2. Brief facts of the case are that one Brijesh Meena filed a complaint on 02.09.2022 before Additional Superintendent of Police, A.C.B. (Special Unit), Jodhpur alleging inter alia that the present petitioner and the principal of Kasturba Awasiya School, Ummedabad namely Khusbhoo Gehlot, have demanded gratification to the tune of Rs.3,000/- to settle a complaint received against the complainant in a particular manner. The

officials of A.C.B. thereupon, initiated trap proceedings and caught Khusbhoo Gehlot red handed. The petitioner was later on, arrested by the officials of A.C.B.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case. Learned counsel submitted that while the petitioner was holding the post of Coordinator, he was asked to conduct inquiry in relation to a complaint submitted against the complainant in the present case namely Brijesh Meena. Learned counsel contended that the allegation of demand of gratification levelled against the petitioner is absolutely false as the inquiry report in relation to aforementioned complaint was completed by the petitioner on 27.08.2022 and report had been submitted before District Collector, Jalore prior to the date of trap proceedings conducted by the officials of A.C.B. Learned counsel further submitted that as a matter of fact, the petitioner was transferred on 26.08.2022 from the post of Assistant Project Coordinator Jalore to Bikaner much before the date on which the trap proceedings were conducted.

4. Learned counsel while drawing attention of the Court towards statutory provisions of Section 17-A of Prevention of Corruption (Amended) Act, 2018 (for short ‘The P.C. Act, 2018’) submitted that since the petitioner was not caught red handed and the fact that the allegation against him relates to a recommendation/decision taken on a complaint submitted against complainant- Brijesh Meena, no police officer could have conducted any enquiry, inquiry and investigation against the petitioner without prior approval of the concerned competent authority.

5. Lastly, learned counsel submitted that in the present case, the entire investigation has been conducted by a police official of the rank of Inspector which is not in consonance with the scheme of the P.C. Act, 2018. Furthermore, Section 17 of the P.C. Act, 2018 mandates that investigation shall be conducted by a police officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. Therefore, the impugned FIR and further proceedings in relation to thereto are liable to be quashed and set aside.

6. Learned counsel in support of his arguments has placed reliance on the following judgments passed by this Court and Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India:-

(1) Rajesh Kumar Meel v. State of Rajasthan & Anr. in S.B. Criminal Revision Petition No.307/2023 dated 09.09.2024.

(2) Mahendra Kumar Soni v. State of Rajasthan & Anr. in S.B. Criminal Revision Petition No.281/2023 dated 28.08.2024.

(3) Babu Lal v. State of Rajasthan in S.B. Criminal Appeal (Sb) No.2556/2023 dated 16.08.2024.

(4) Sourabh Garg v. State of Rajasthan in S.B. Criminal Misc. Petition No.6337/2021 dated 27.01.2022.

(5) Kailash Chandra Agarwal & Anr. v. State of Rajasthan & Anr. in Criminal Misc. Petition No.159/2018 dated 07.04.2020.

(6) Ranidan Singh v. State of Rajasthan & Anr. in S.B. Criminal Misc. Petition No.1219/2022 dated 08.10.2024.

(7) Himanshu Yadav v. State of Rajasthan & Anr. in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.17545/2021 dated 19.01.2022.

(8) State of Rajasthan v. Tejmal Choudhary in Criminal Ap