Dhirendra Kumar Rai was part of the CBI team that investigated the Taj corridor scam and had collected evidence linking “fake donors” to Maya’s corpus fund.
While refraining from pointedly holding Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati responsible for retaliation against a meritorious deputy superintendent of police who had interrogated her in corruption cases when she was out of power, the Allahabad high court (HC) last week quashed charges filed against Dhirendra Kumar Rai and directed the state to pay him Rs2 lakh in compensation for causing him trauma and agony.
Rai had not made Mayawati a party in his suit though he was able to show that she was responsible for the “oppressive” action.
As a member of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team in 2005, Rai was a part of the team that investigated the Taj corridor scam and Mayawati’s role in the same. Rai had collected evidence linking “fake donors”, who were not traceable earlier, to the corpus of Mayawati, who was then a member of parliament.
For his “skillful investigation”, the CBI had rewarded him Rs5,000. A bench of justices Devi Prasad Singh and SC Chaurasia said that it appeared that Rai had searched Mayawati’s premises and also interrogated her.
The UP government didn’t deny the court’s observation but the state’s counsel said since Rai had not impleaded Mayawati as a respondent, no mala fide intention could be attributed to her without hearing her defence.
The UP government had suspended Rai after he and his team encountered a dacoit gang, in which six policemen were killed, in July 2007. Rai had made 29 calls to his seniors, seeking help, but to no avail. He then led his team back to the police station, losing six men on the way. The UP police later charge sheeted him for misconduct in taking the decision to head back.
The HC said the decision could be called wrong, but it did not amount to misconduct. In fact, the HC wanted action taken those officers who ignored his SOS, and thus put the force at risk.
The judges said the UP government’s action against Rai was based on no evidence or evidence that does not constitute misconduct, and also based on records that appear to have been fabricated. The action was laced with fraud to create evidence against Rai, the bench said.
Deviating from Rai’s case, the Allahabad HC quoted the global corruption index saying India figures at 84 in the list of most corrupt countries and said a substantial number of persons holding high offices have criminal antecedents.
The judgment also expressed concern at criminalisation of politics, in letting then Union Carbide Corp chief Warren Anderson escape from the country. The court also expressed concern at the corruption cases against politicians and the mining scam in Karnataka.
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