AI Structured Summary
Not yet generated for this judgment
Judgment
G.S. Chahal, J.
Sh. B.S. Sekhon who has been working as AEE and Sh. N.S. Bhullar, SDO with the Punjab State Electricity Board, Ludhiana, have come up in this criminal miscellaneous under Section 482, Cr. PC for quashing of First Information Report No. 39 dated 14391, registered at Police Station Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana under Section 506, Indian Penal Code.
The impugned FIR, Annexure P1 had been registered on the basis of a communication sent by Sh. S.S. Johal, S.E., D.S. Circle, Ludhiana. It contains the following allegations against the petitioners :
"..Today at about 4.30 P.M., Er N.S. Bhullar, S.D.O., residing at (66 KV Power Colony, G. T. Road, Ludhiana and Er. B.S. Sekhon, residing at Power Colony No. 11, Sarabha Nagar, P.S.E.B. Ludhiana entered my office forcibly when they were in a drunken state with great difficulty. They wore persuaded to leave my office. Again at about 5 P.M. Er. B.S. Sekhon, SDO entered my office and started threatening and abusing. He tried to physically assault the undersigned but was averted due to intervention of Er. Kiran Mandal and Er. M. S. Bhatia, Executive Engineer who were present in my office. Their action and threats pose a serious danger to my life. As such it is requested that necessary preventive measures may be taken into the matter and necessary FIR may be registered against the said officers. The matter was brought to the notice of Shri R.S. Randhawa, S. P. Headquarters at about 5. 15 P. M. on telephone.
Sd/ (S. S. Johal), S.E.,D.S. Circle, Ludhiana.
......This FIR is challenged on the ground that the same had been got registered mala fide by Sh. S.S. Johal and was vague and no offence is made out. To support the contention that the FIR was mala fide, the petitioners rely on Civil Writ Petition No. 15738 of 1990, brought by both the petitioners against the Punjab State Electricity Board and others, challenging their transfers. The allegations, so far relevant and pertaining to the conduct of Sh. S.S. Johal, in the matter of transfer, may be reproduced from the said civil writ petition, as under :
"2. That respondent No. 3 Shri S.S. Johal was posted as Superintending Engineer, Ludhiana in July, 1990 and has been inimical towards the petitioner from day code. He has, on numerous occasions, threatened the petitioners with dire consequences and had also said that in order to teach them a lesson he would send them to an area infested by the terrorists. It is pertinent to mention here that there are no complaints of any sort regarding the work or conduct of the petitioners and their transfer would not in any manner facilitate the working of the respondent Board.
That vide office order No. 1579/EG dated 7111990, the petitioners, have been transferred to Kalanaur and Fatehgarh Churian respectively. This order is both mala fide and illegal as it violates the policies formulated by the Government and which are binding on the Board as also the transfers have been ordered at the behest of respondent No. 3 who since his transfer to Ludhiana has borne animus towards the petitioners. A copy of the order is annexed with this writ petition as Annexure P1.
That the mala fide intentions of respondent No. 3 towards the petitioners can be gauged from the fact that he has ordered the transfer of the petitioners in utter disregard of the policy formulated by the Government and specially when viewed against the backdrop that neither is this the time for general transfers or midterm transfers. Moreover, he is interested in bringing his people to these posts namely Shri Mehar Singh, Assistant Executive Engineer, presently posted as Assistant Executive Engineer, West SubDivision, Ludhiana who had earlier worked with him as Sub Divisional Officer when Shri S.S. Johal Respondent No. 3 was Executive Engineer in DivisionA, at Ludhiana during the period 197778 or thereabout. It may also be mentioned here that Shri Mehar Singh has served in Ludhiana continuously for the past 61/2 years. Needless to say, this transfer of the petitioners is a form of punishment rather than any necessity of the working of the Board.
The civil writ petition was allowed and the order of transfer was quashed vide judgment dated 21121990. The Division Bench, deciding the writ petition, had found that it was not a routine transfer and though it was stated that some complaints and adverse reports were pending against the petitioners, but the same had yet not been decided. The power to transfer had been used for a collateral purpose. The relevant part of the judgment reads as under :
"In the present case, it would be seen that admittedly the transfers have been made on the basis of some complaints and adverse remarks. No enquiry has been held and simply on the basis of complaints and suspicion, the petitioners have been transferred, whereas the stage regarding those allegations is only that explanation has been called and the matter is pending final disposal. There does not seem to be any public interest in transferring the petitioners. but as noticed above, the power to transfer seems to have been used for collateral purposes to avoid disciplinary proceedings. Shri Mehar Singh has been working at Ludhiana for the last more than six years. He is being retained in place of one of the petitioners and for the other just a fresher is being brought, but it is claimed on behalf of the Board that the posts to be manned by the petitioners are very important ones, but still a fresher is being brought in place of one of the petitioners.
....3. The decision in the civil writ petition does not contain a word that the allegation of the petitioners that there was some mala fide on the part of Shri S.S. Johal had been accepted while quashing the orders of transfer. Sh. Johal had done his duty as a superior officer while sending his report against subordinate staff, including the petitioners and it was the order of the Board that was the subject matter of challenge in writ petition. In the writ petition no facts had been pleaded to show mala fide of Sh. Johal, but it was only alleged that from the very point of time of his posting as Superintending Engineer, he was inimical towards the petitioners. This is too vague an allegation to make out an act of mala fide on the part of Sh. Johal.
The impugned FIR speaks of two occurrences on the same day. In the first occurrence which took place at 4.30 p.m., both the petitioners went to the office of Sh. Johal in a drunken condition. They probably wanted to show that they were successful in getting the orders of their transfer set aside. At any rate, nothing more happened and they were made to vacate the office. This incident may at best call for a disciplinary action against the petitioners, but does not amount to a criminal act.
The second incident complained of relates only to Sh. Sekhon, petitioner. After having been sent away from the office of Sh. Johal, he returned there all by himself and not only abused and threatened Sh. Johal, but also tried to assault him physically. It was at the intervention of an Engineer and an Executive Engineer that Sh. Johal was saved from the hands of Sh. Sekhon, petitioner. The allegations made in the impugned FIR clearly make out a criminal offence on the part of Sh. Sekhon, petitioner. The law is well established that if the FIR makes out a criminal offence, powers under Section 482 Cr. P.C. will not be exercised except under the categories of cases given in State of Haryana and others v. Ch. Bhajan Lal and others, JT 1990(4) SC 650. It is, thus, concluded that no case for quashing of the impugned FIR against Sh. Sekhon, petitioner is made out. There arc clear allegations of a criminal act committed by him.
With respect to Sh. Bhullar, petitioner, he can, only be held to have committed some indiscipline by going to the office of his superior in a drunken condition. Since the impugned FIR against him does not make out a criminal offence, the same with respect to him is hereby quashed.
JUDGMENT accordingly