SC to hear plea against MP chief secretary after two weeks

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear after two weeks a plea challenging the appointment of 1982-batch IAS officer S R Mohanty as the chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh on the ground that he was allegedly involved in a corruption case pertaining to the State Industrial Development Corporation.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose tagged the writ petition filed early this year with an already pending appeal of 2017, in which the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the state police has challenged an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in connection with the case.

The apex court had, on February 15, issued notice to the Centre and other respondents on the petition filed by a lawyer practising in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Appearing for petitioner Manohar Dalal, senior advocate Maninder Singh had said the present case demonstrated a glaring abuse of power by Mohanty.

He had also pointed out that abuse of power got established by the fact that the Director General (DG) of the EOW, who was probing the corruption case against Mohanty, was removed on January 2, immediately after the latter took charge as chief secretary on December 31, 2018.

The DG, EOW was replaced six months after his appointment, Singh had said.

The petitioner has sought directions for quashing Mohanty's appointment and a fresh departmental inquiry against him.

Appearing for the state government, senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan said Mohanty's eligibility for appointment as chief secretary was not in question as he was the seniormost officer to be appointed on the retirement of his predecessor.

Dalal has sought transfer of the case registered by the EOW against Mohanty to the CBI for further investigation.

He has also sought that a fresh departmental inquiry be held under the supervision of a retired judge of the apex court or the high court.

The petitioner said Mohanty was also required to be shifted from the critical and important post of chief secretary as was done in the corruption case against Neera Yadav, who was the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh.

"During his tenure as the Managing Director of MPSIDC from 2000-2004, S R Mohanty disbursed loans in violation of the decisions of the state government and contrary to the Articles of Association of MPSIDC," the plea said.

It added that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its 2003 report, had pointed out that MPSIDC, which was under Mohanty, illegally disbursed financial assistance without the approval of the state government and contrary to the provisions of the Articles of Association.

Referring to a report of Raghav Chandra, who was Mohanty's successor in MPSIDC, the plea said he had pointed out that Mohanty disbursed Rs 91.57 crore to 18 borrowers, of which some were fake companies.

The state government then sent a report to the EOW, which, following a detailed inquiry, registered an FIR in 2004 against 84 persons, including Mohanty, for abusing his official position by conniving with private companies and causing loss to the state government.

"Despite a serious corruption case pending against S R Mohanty, the newly-elected state government, which came back to power after 15 years, appointed him as the chief secretary of the state of Madhya Pradesh on December 31, 2018," the plea said.

It added that before Mohanty's appointment as chief secretary, the state government concluded the departmental inquiry pending against him for 11 years within a week and exonerated him of all charges.

"The entire inquiry was a farce and concluded post haste only to exonerate S R Mohanty, so that he can be appointed as chief secretary," the plea said, adding that immediately after being appointed, on January 2, Mohanty transferred DG, EOW Madhu Kumar and replaced him with a new officer.

"The state government has decided that through the newly-appointed director general of the EOW, it would withdraw the corruption charges against S R Mohanty pending before the competent court," the plea said.

It further said the state government had also decided to withdraw a case against Mohanty pending in the apex court.

"The closure of such a serious corruption case against a senior official, who abused his official position and caused loss to the state exchequer, would also amount to miscarriage of justice," the plea said.