New Delhi (Agency): The High Court of Karnataka recently dismissed a case filed against senior IPS officer Ajay Hilori related to the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scandal. Hilori, who previously served as Deputy Commissioner of Police in East Bengaluru, was alleged to have solicited and accepted bribes in this case from IMA.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR on February 1, 2020, identifying Hilori as the second accused. In the supplementary charge sheet submitted by the CBI to the trial court, he was indicated as the 26th accused. He was charged under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Hilori challenged the case against him in the High Court, asserting that a departmental inquiry had acquitted him of the charges. Justice M Nagaprasanna, in his judgement, noted, “In the departmental inquiry, after conduct of a full blown inquiry, the Inquiry Officer exonerates the petitioner of the offences of demand and acceptance of any bribe concerning IMA deposits.”
Accepting Hilori’s argument, the High Court affirmed that Hilori had only been issued a warning, which does not constitute a penalty and verges on exoneration, as the proceedings against him were closed. The court also observed that the same investigator conducted the departmental inquiry and examined the same witnesses.
The court pointed out that if no evidence supporting the offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act or the offences under sections 406 and 420 of the IPC could be found against Hilori, even from the same investigating officer, witnesses, and documents, then his chances of conviction in a criminal trial were “absolutely bleak.”
The High Court, therefore, decided that Hilori does not need to face trial given the scant likelihood of conviction. “The bleakness of such conviction must lead to the closure of the proceedings against the petitioner, as the petitioner cannot be made to undergo the rigmarole of trial,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.
According to the departmental inquiry, Hilori was merely negligent in forwarding a report without scrutinizing it. All other allegations, including the demand and acceptance of bribes, were found to be in Hilori’s favour since the investigating officer himself refused to support the accusations against him.
However, the High Court clarified that its decision to quash the case against Hilori applies only to him and does not influence the proceedings against the other accused individuals in this case.