Shimla, Jul 9 The Himachal Pradesh High Court has dropped the proceedings against former DGP Sanjay Kundu initiated suo motu on a Palampur-based hotelier's complaint alleging intimidation.
A division bench of Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi also allowed Kundu to contest the cancellation report on the FIR registered by him against hotelier Nishant Sharma, alleging that complaints against him were without any substantial basis and circulating e-mails tarnished his image and reputation.
The court granted liberty to Sharma to contest cancellation of his complaint after receiving notice from the magistrate and also said that Kundu was free to file objections against cancellation of FIR registered on his complaint or institute complaint under relevant provision of law.
The bench said that no further orders are required in the matter and "resultantly, we don't wish to further comment on the matter and leave the parties to agitate their rights before the court of competent jurisdiction, namely the magistrate".
"However, since the apex court has ordained us to also look into the reports, which have been filed by the SIT and it has left us to look into the reports and discretion to proceed further in accordance with law as to whether the investigation has been done properly," it added.
Liberty has also been given to us that in case dissatisfied with the manner the SIT has undertaken the investigation, it would be open for us to take further action, if so required, the court said.
It also said that by involving high-ranking police officials in his 'fabricated allegations', Sharma might be attempting to intimidate his opponents into backing down from business dispute or agreeing to more favourable terms and the SIT came to the conclusion that a false case was filed by the complainant to manipulate the legal system, distract attention from the findings and gain upper hand in his business disputes.
"We are of the considered opinion that the necessary exercise has been done and do not find that SIT had faulted in any manner and the only argument which has been raised by the complainant is that the cancellation Report had been wrongly filed during the pendency of the litigation in the Supreme Court", the bench said.
"The FIR was lodged at McLeodganj police station on August 25, 2023 on the basis of the fact that the complainant was threatened by two persons who came on a Pulsar bike and we are now to look into both the cancellation reports, on the directions of the apex court," it said.
The perusal of the cancellation report shows that SIT reached out to the present petitioner, recreated the crime scene and examined footage of the date of the incident but the bike purportedly used by the assailant remained unidentified in the proceedings and the SIT's Investigation suggested that Sharma had fabricated the story to create a false narrative against Keshav Shridhar, Sachin Shridhar and Kundu, which appeared to be coordinated to frame a particular sequence of events.
Sharma's claims about being under unauthorized surveillance were found to be baseless as investigation with the telecom service provider and the CID department confirmed that no such surveillance or tapping of his phone.
The investigation found that Sharma had a longstanding business dispute with Keshav Shridhar which likely motivated his allegations and Legal proceedings regarding mismanagement and oppression within the company were already underway, indicating that the criminal complaint may have been an attempt to gain leverage in the business conflict.
The forensic analysis of the CCTV footage from possible escape routes, alleged as tampered by Sharma, did not show any tampering or manipulation and analysis of call records did not show any connections to the alleged suspects that would support his allegations.
The SIT came to the conclusion that a false case was filed by the complainant to manipulate the legal system, distract attention from the findings and gain upper hand in his business disputes.
Sharna's actions complicated the investigation and suggested an ulterior motive in registering a false case appears to be multifaceted and rooted in ongoing business conflict, the order said.
The high court had taken suo moto cognizance of a mail from Sharma and representation dated October 28, 2023 to the then Chief Justice of the high court, alleging intimidation by Kundu and seeking judicial intervention.
Taking serious note of the allegations, the high court had sought a status report on November 10, 2023, as the complaint alleged that the state's highest-ranking police officer had attempted to intimidate the complainant.
On November 5, 2023, Kundu had lodged an FIR against Sharma with the district police Shimla for the alleged act of forgery, false charge and defamation.
