Pradip Baruah v. The State of Assam and Ors

ORDER

21.02.2024 (Vijay

Bishnoi, CJ) This writ petition, in the form of public interest litigation, is filed by the petitioner essentially raising a concern that there is rampant corruption in implementation of the Central Government funded schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Krishak Sinchayee Yojana – Per Drop More Crop (PMKSY-PDMC). It is the case of the petitioner that though in respect of the corruption activities in which the Government officials and the private entities are involved, he has already approached the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam and to the Superintendent of Police, Chief Minister's Vigilance Cell as well as the Officer-in-Charge of Mayong Police Station by submitting an application for registration of F.I.R., but nothing has been done by the respondent Government and therefore, a writ be issued to the respondents to initiate proceedings against the corrupt officials as well as other persons involved in corruption in Page No.# 4/4 implementation of the above referred schemes. Having heard the petitioner appearing in person and after going through the materials available on record, we are of the view that if the petitioner is complaining about commission of a cognizable offence and his attempt to register an F.I.R. with the police has not fructified, it is always open for the petitioner to file appropriate complaint before the concerned Judicial Magistrate as per the provisions of Section 156(3) of the Cr.P.C. So far as regarding the allegations levelled by the petitioner in this writ petition, we are of the firm view that this Court is not equipped for conducting an enquiry into the allegations regarding corruption in the Government schemes and the proper course of action for the petitioner is to approach the Criminal Court for registration of a criminal case regarding the commission of a cognizable offence. In view of the above, we do not find any good ground for issuing a writ of mandamus. Hence, this writ petition is dismissed.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010033592024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/13/2024o PRADIPoBARUAHo S/OoLATEoISWARoCH.oBARUAHo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoAKASHINAGAR,oPSoPRAGJYOTISHPUR,oPOo CHANDRAPUR,oKAMRUPoMoASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDoORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAMoDEPARTMENToOFoAGRICULTURE,oDISPURoGUWAHATIo06 2:DIRECTOR oDIRECTORATEoOFoHORTICULTUREoANDoFOODoPROCESSING oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATIo22 3:JAINoIRRIGATIONoSYSTEMoLTD. oJALGAON oMAHARASTRA 4:PREMIERoIRRIGATIONoADRITECoPVT.oLTD o17/1C oALIPOREoROAD oKOLKATAo27 5:MOHIToINDIA oF21-D oRIICOoINDUSTRIALoAREA oBHIWANDIoDISToALWAR oRAJASTHANo301019 6:NEWTONoPIPIoINDUSTRIES PageoNo.#o2/4 oVILLAGEoMEYAR oPOoKALARY oNOORSARIo(NALANDA)oBIHARo803113 7:OASISoIRRIGATIONoEQUIPMENToCO.oLTD. oP-6oSCHEMEoVI oM(S)oCIT oKOLKATAo700054. 8:BHUMIoPOLYMERSoPRIVATEoLTD. oKRISHNAoIND.oAREAoNH-27 oVERAVAL(oSHAPER) oDIST.oRAJKOT oGUJRATo360024 9:SRMoPLASTOCHEMoPVT.oLTD. oE-27 oNEARoAHLUWALIAoMALL oINDUSTRIALoESTATE oKOTA oRAJASTHAN o324007 10:HALLMARKoAQUAEQUIPMENToPVT.oLTD. o208oRASoBEHARIoAVENUE o2NDoFLOOR oKOLKATAo7000294 oPREMIERoIRRIGATIONoADRICTECoPVT.oLTD.o17/1CoALIPOREoROAD oKOLKATAo27 11:ANNAPURNAoINDUSTRIES oC2 oSRIoRAMoNAGAR oNEARoTVoTOWERoRAIPUR o(CG) 12:NETAFIMoIRRIGATIONoINDIAoPVT.oLTD. o268-270 o271BGIDC oMANJUSAR oTAL.oSALVI oDISToVODODATA oGUJRATo391775 13:PAWANoPOLYTEXoPVT.oLTD oF-20RIICOoINDUSTRIALoAREA oNOKHA oBIKANER Page No.# 3/4 RAJASTHAN 334803 14:SIGNET INDUSTRIES LTD. SDA COMPOUND DEWAS NAKA LASUDIA MORI MP 45201 Advocate for the Petitioner : PETITIONER IN PERSON Advocate for the Respondent : SC. AGRICULTURE BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM