Disproportionate Assets: Supreme Court Revives FIR Against Income Tax Commissioner & Her Husband Now A Minister Of AP Govt
Live LawThe Supreme Court has allowed allowed the appeal filed by Central Bureau of Investigation against a High Court judgment that quashed FIR registered by it in a disproportionate assets case against e Thommandru Hannah Vijayalakshmi, a Commissioner of Income Tax and her husband Adimulapu Suresh, who is presently a Minister in the Andhra Pradesh Government. The High Court had allowed their petition seeking quashing of FIR on the following grounds the information about the respondents' income can be ascertained from their 'known sources of income' under Section 13 of the PC Act, such as their Income Tax Returns, information submitted to their department under the Central Civil Services Rules 1964 and affidavit filed under the Representation of the People Act 19518 and the Rules under it; to counter the veracity of the information from these sources, the appellant, Central Bureau of Investigation, should have conducted a Preliminary Enquiry under the Central Bureau of Investigation Manual 2005 before registration of the FIR; and on the basis of the information ascertained from these 'known sources of income', the allegations against the respondents in the FIR prima facie seem unsustainable. Perusing the High Court judgment, the court noted that, in a judgment spanning a hundred and seven pages the Single Judge has conducted a mini-trial, overlooking binding principles which govern a plea for quashing an FIR. However, it is evident that in a judgment spanning a hundred and seven pages the Single Judge has conducted a mini-trial, overlooking binding principles which govern a plea for quashing an FIR", the court observed in the judgment.