In an interim relief to suspended RAS officer Pinky Meena, the Rajasthan High Court stayed her suspension order in a bribery demand case.
Meena has been suspended since January 15, 2021. The decision was passed by Justice Sudesh Bansal.
The court said that the suspension order of Pushkar Mittal, another accused RAS officer in this case, has already been stayed by the High Court.
“Pinky Meena's case is no different from that. At the same time, the suspension review committee has also not given any reason for the continuation of the suspension,” the court noted.
Pinky Meena was given a departmental chargesheet after about 5 years. In such a case, the petitioner's suspension order is stayed for the purpose of maintaining parity.
Advocates Vipul Singhvi and Adesh Arora, appearing for the petitioner in the high court, said that suspension is considered only a temporary and preventive measure by law, so that the accused officer cannot influence the investigation.
More than five and a half years have passed in this case and keeping someone suspended for such a long time is like punishment, which is against the service rules.
The counsel argued that the investigation in the case has been completed, challan has been submitted much earlier and the prosecution sanction has also been issued. In such a situation, there is no possibility of the officer influencing witnesses or evidence.
What is the case?
The case is related to the Dausa district of Rajasthan, which made headlines at the national level in January 2021. At that time, the construction work of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway was going on in Dausa district.
Representatives of the company building the expressway had filed a complaint with the ACB that the local administrative authorities were demanding huge bribes in return for removing the hurdles in land acquisition and construction.
On January 13, 2021, the ACB had arrested the then SDM of Bandikui, Pinky Meena, on charges of demanding a bribe of Rs 10 lakh and the then SDM of Dausa, Pushkar Mittal, on charges of demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh.
Pinky Meena's arrest took place just a few days before the wedding. She had obtained a few days interim bail from the High Court for the wedding ceremony, following which she surrendered.
Later, the ACB completed the investigation into the matter and presented the challan in the court and the state government had also issued prosecution clearance against these officials.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
