High Court approached challenging RK Patra Enquiry Commission

“HOW CAN COMMISSION LOOK INTO SOMETHING ALREADY ENQUIRED BY CBI”? QUESTIONS SPCC LEADER

GANGTOK, 08 Jan: The legality and propriety of the RK Patra Enquiry Commission constituted to look into allegations of misappropriation of funds by public servants has now been taken to the court. Along with this question, also raised are allegations that the institution of this Commission “tantamounts to a parallel enquiry “ since, as claimed in the petition, the Central Bureau of Investigation has already conducted an enquiry and submitted a report on virtually the same allegations. In fact, it is claimed that the CBI, after submitting its enquiry report to the State government, had sought permission to register a case.

The RK Patra enquiry commission, it may be recalled, is enquiring into allegations leveled by state Congress members against various politicians and bureaucrats of having misappropriated funds running into crores of rupees. The Patra Commission is looking into allegations made by the SPCC in its publication called “Sikkim Mahaloot/ Burmaloot” on the basis of which the party had also approached the Supreme Court of India. While SPCC members approached the CBI to investigate into their allegations, the State government here had set up an enquiry commission to look into the allegations. The Commission was set up on 07 January, 2011 while State Congress leaders had approached the CBI with their claims and allegations after the disposal of their petition by the Supreme Court on 25 March, 2010.
JB Darnal, an SPCC leader, has now approached the Sikkim High Court with a petition questioning the legality of this enquiry commission and seeking orders from the court that this Commission be quashed. Even though the Commission has been issuing summons to the involved parties to depose before it, the SPCC members, while appearing before it, have not been cooperating. The SPCC president, Nar Bahadur Bhandaru, is reported to have raised these questions with Justice RK Patra himself during the hearings.
The petition filed by Mr. Darnal submits that the Commission cannot be an appellate tribunal or court and that it cannot investigate into something on which a report has already been prepared by the CBI. The investigating agency, the petition claims, had investigated into the complaints and sought approval for registration of a case. Interestingly, the state government had issued a notification on 21 July, 2010, withdrawing consent to the CBI and making it necessary or mandatory for the investigating agency to seek prior permission of the state before registering a case against state government officials under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
Mr. Darnal contends that the CBI had investigated into the complaints and submitted its report in October, 2010 and sought permission to register a case. The petitioning state Congress leader has sought that the High Court quash the notification dated 07 January, 2011 by which the RK Patra Inquiry Commission was constituted and for any other directions or orders that the court may deem fit.