New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) A court here has issued summons to former Rajya Sabha member Brajesh Pathak in connection with a leave travel concession (LTC) case.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna issued summons to Pathak to appear before the court on March 24.
Delhi-based firm Vandna Travels Private Limited and its director Rajesh Agnihotri have also been summoned.
The court order came while taking cognizance of the CBI chargesheet filed against the company and its director on January 2.
However, the investigating agency did not chargesheet Pathak, saying there was no evidence against him.
But the judge rejected the agency's submission and said: "It is the duty of the investigating officer to forward the final report to the court and no discretion or prerogative lies with the investigative officer to evaluate the defence pleas or to assess the evidence collected on record to appreciate the defence pleas.
"The concept and scheme of Section 13 (1) (d) (criminal misconduct by a public servant for obtaining peculinary gain) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is clear and all the ingredients of the offence are complete in the present case," the court said in its February 20 order.
"Therefore, I hold that investigating officer has no basis to file closure with respect to the offences of Section 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and read with Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code concerning Brajesh Pathak," the court said.
The court observed that Pathak, being a public servant, was under bound duty to furnish the correct and genuine claim with respect to the journeys undertaken by him and the amounts spent by him.
It noted that Pathak countersigned the forged e-tickets to gain pecuniary advantage and the offence was complete when the reimbursement was credited to his account.
The allegations were that during the period 2011-2013, Pathak entered into criminal conspiracy with private people and wrongly claimed inflated reimbursement for eight companion tickets from the pay and accounts office at the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to the tune of Rs.2,19,887.
The actual payment made against the said eight companion tickets was Rs.10,499, and accordingly the excess amount to the tune of Rs.2,09,338 was claimed from the government, it added.
Pathak's tenure as Rajya Sabha member ended on November 25, 2014.
New Delhi: Nowadays smartphone has become such an important part of our life that we cannot live
The Mumbai Crime Branch is continuing its investigation into the firing incident at the Juhu resi
CM Yogi In Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is on an Ayodhya tour today (Fri
Ghibli Trend: OpenAI changed the rules for Ghibli-style photos, now real-world images cannot be used
These days, Ghibli-style pictures are being seen in abundance on social media. It can be said tha
WB teacher recruitment scam: Former minister questioned by ED, accused of teacher recruitment scam
Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Monday questioned former West Bengal minister Paresh Ad
A large number of security forces are deployed in Delhi's Jahangirpuri area on Saturday for the f
Time will tell who bears the brunt of the NCERT's decision to teach children only controversial c
The sixth match of the IPL was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Ride
Veteran badminton player and mentor of top shuttler PV Sindhu, Prakash Padukone, believes that In
US President Joe Biden responded strongly to Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements on the
