The court affirmed that a preliminary inquiry is not mandatory for FIR registration in corruption cases; prompt action is required upon credible information regarding misconduct.

1. The order dated 24th December, 2018 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad is the subject matter of challenge in the present appeals, one by the State and the other by the Accused Officer.

2. The High Court partly allowed the petition filed by the Accused Officer under S.482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, 'Code') qua the proceedings arising out of Crime No. 28 / ACB - CIU - HYD / 2011 dated 9th November, 2011.

3. Such FIR was registered on the basis of the statement given by Ch. Sudhakar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (for short, 'DSP')at about 10 am. The FIR reads as under:
"On receipt of credible information that Sri. Managipet @ Mangipet Sarveshwar Reddy S/o. Late Narsimha Reddy, Age 51 years, Occ: OSD, Rang Reddy District, Vikarabad R/o Flat No. 401, Venkatadri Apartments, Behind HPCL Petrol Pump, Gachibowli, Hyderabad is a native of Chilkatonipally (V) Veltoor (Post), Wanaparthy Tq., Mahaboobnagar District. The S.O. joined Govt. service on 19-09-1985 as Sub Inspector of Police and promoted as Inspector of Police on 04-04-1995 and Dy. Supdt. of Police, in the year 2007. He worked as SI at Rayadurgam, Hayathnagar, Malkajigiri, as Circle Inspector at Huzurnagar of Nalgonda District Narsingi, Uppal, Rajendranagar of Cyberabad Commissionerate, R.R. District as ACP., Rajendranagar for about 4 years and presently working as OSD, Ranga Reddy District, Vikarabad.
During the period of his service he acquired Six Multistoried Buildings, One Multistoried commercial complex, 27 plots and 26 Acres of land at Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahboobnagar Districts and one Scorpio car, one Hyundai Verna car and Maruti Car, all worth Rs.3,55,61,500/-.
The probable income of the A.O. and his family members from all their known sources of income when calculated roughly would be Rs.60,00,000/-. The probable expenditure of the accused officer including household expenditure and expenditure on children education is tentatively estimated at Rs.23,00,000/-.
The likely savings of the accused officer is Rs.37,00,000/- i.e., the probable income of Rs. 60,00,000 - minus the probable expenditure of Rs.23,00,000/-.
As against the likely savings of Rs.37,00,000/- the Accused Officer has acquired assets approximately worth Rs.3,55,61,500/-. Thus, the A.O. is in possession of assets worth Rs.3,18,61,500/- which are disproportionate to the known sources of his income for which he cannot satisfactorily account for and thereby committed the offence punishable U/s 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of P.C. Act 1988.
Permission has been obtained from the competent authority to register a case against the above official U/s 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 .
Hence, the FIR."

4. A charge sheet was filed on 9th October, 2017 on completion of the investigations. As per the Report, the Accused Officer was said to be in possession of assets worth Rs.3,18,61,500/- alleged to be disproportionate to his known sources of income. The total worth of the property against his savings of Rs.37 lakhs was found to be approximately Rs.3,55,61,500/-. During the investigations, as many as 114 witnesses were examined. Ch. Sudhakar, DSP, CIU, ACB, Hyderabad and five more investigating officers conducted the investigations and prepared the final report.

5. The High Court in a petition for quashing of the charge sheet, held that there was no authorization to register the crime and that the informant cannot be the investigating officer and, thus, quashed the same. The State is aggrieved against the said two findings whereas, the Accused Officer has challenged the findings of the High Court not accepting the grounds pressed by him in seeking the quashing of the charge