Patna HC refuses to quash FIR against IPS officer Amit Lodha in DA case

The Patna high court has rejected senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amit Lodha’s plea to quash a first information report (FIR) related to a disproportionate asset (DA) case lodged against him by the special vigilance unit (SVU) and directed the agency to take the investigation of this case to its logical end within a period of six months from Monday.

The 1998 batch IPS officer, presently posted as IG, state crime records bureau, had on December 24, 2022 filed a criminal writ petition before the court to quash the FIR lodged against him on December 7, 2022.

In the present DA case, as per the allegations and the evidence which have been collected so far, it is contended that the petitioner has accumulated assets valued more than ₹7 crores even as his total income from all legal sources would not be more than ₹2 crores in gross without any deductions.

The IPS officer filed the writ petition on three grounds which are as follows--the allegations set out do not constitute commission of any cognizable offence by the petitioner, the FIR and the entire criminal proceedings arising therefrom, including its investigation, is vitiated with malafide and will result in malicious prosecution, if allowed to continue and the impugned FIR has been registered without obtaining mandatory sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act

Having heard the counsel for the petitioner (Amit Lodha) and counsel for the SVU and upon perusal of the records, the court of justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad found that the information which are part of the FIR in this case would demonstrate that the allegation against the petitioner is that of illicitly acquiring wealth as a public servant. It is alleged that there were regular transactions’ of money from the account of ‘Friday Story Tellers’ to the account of Komudi Lodha, the wife of Amit Lodha, on different dates related to the production of a film and the ultimate beneficiary of the same was Amit, his wife and his associates. The allegations are being investigated.

The SVU claimed in the court during hearing, Amit Lodha was posted as IG, Magadh Range (Gaya), and in pursuance of his agreement he had visited Mumbai in August, 2021 to meet the production team of web series and had received ₹12,372 on August 18 from Friday Story Teller LLP in his HDFC bank account. During his posting as IG, Magadh Range, again he had visited the shooting site at Kurka village near Daltanganj in Jharkhand on September 16, 2021 to monitor the production/creation of web series. The IG stayed with the production team there in the same hotel on September 17, 2021 and payment of ₹75,900 has been paid by the company. It is submitted that accumulation of disproportionate assets is a continuous offence and the above facts are enough to prove the jurisdiction of SVU, Bihar to register the FIR against the petitioner and others

“There is another allegation that the IG being a public servant had illegally entered a private trade with a production house and earned around ₹49.62 lakh by corrupt and illegal means. At this stage, this court is of the considered opinion that the contention of the SVU that the scrutiny of government records available in public domain reveals that the accused has acquired huge movable/immovable properties which is over and above and have been illicitly acquired, cannot be examined by this court by holding a prematured trial,” said the order.

“The investigating agency i.e. SVU shall ensure that the investigation be conducted in proper and fair manner in accordance with law. The investigation must be fair and in no case the pending investigation be allowed to be used as ruse for targeted harassment. The IPS officer shall be obliged to cooperate with the investigating agency as and when required,” said the court in its order, adding that in the facts and circumstances of the case, this court finds no merit in this writ application. No interference is required by this court to scuttle the investigation of the case.