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| Prakash Mishra |
Often, cases of corrupt and unscrupulous government
officials who make disproportionate money make instant headlines. By comparison, there is less coverage of cases where honest and upright officers get unfairly
targeted by political personalities and those in power. One such instance has recently
come to my notice. It involves one of the most experienced and currently perhaps the
senior-most IPS officer in the country, Prakash Mishra, presently Director General
of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Fortunately, the judiciary in this
country is still largely fiercely independent and thus ensures that political
vendetta does not ruin the reputation and careers of upright officers.
A blatantly false and malafide criminal case against Prakash
Mishra filed by the Odisha Vigilance Department which directly works under Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik has quashed recently by the Orissa High Court, is a
prime example of how political and personal biases can dictate State
Government decisions.
The so-called case dates back to a period between 2006-2009
when Prakash Mishra, an IPS Officer of the 1977 batch was Chairman-cum-Managing
Director of Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OSPH &WC).
The State government instituted an inquiry into what it called an irregular
purchase of cement and steel and payment of full amount to suppliers in
advance. The State government alleged that Prakash Mishra and another officer
had entered into a criminal conspiracy to derive pecuniary advantage. An FIR
was registered in Bhubaneshwar in September 2014 against Mishra, five years
after he had ceased to be the CMD of OSPH &WC!
Why did the State government wake up after almost
half-a-decade? According to Mishra’s writ petition (based on which the High
Court dismissed the case against him) the State government headed by Naveen Patnaik
wasn’t very happy with his “strict and upright” way of functioning during his
tenure as the Director General of Police in Odisha. Mishra, it must be noted
here, went back to the state as DGP at the request of the State Government in
2012. During his tenure, the Odisha Police notched up several successes in
their drive against the Maoists who were running amok in some districts of the
state. But by December 2013 Mishra realised he was not in tune with the
political discourse in the state and therefore asked to be sent back for
Central deputation. Initially the State Government agreed to his request but
subsequently withdrew its permission for Mishra to be sent to the Centre citing
shortage of IPS officers in the state but betrayed its own bias against Mishra
by posting him as CMD of Orissa State Transport Corporation which clearly is
not under the police department!
When the Ministry of Home Affairs inquired about Mishra’s
availability for central deputation in July 2014, the State Government said
Mishra’s name has been removed from the list of officers eligible for Central
deputation because there is a vigilance inquiry pending against him. Aware of
the flimsy and obviously politically-motivated move against him, the Centre
nevertheless brought Mishra back to Delhi and posted him as Special Secretary
(Internal Security) before posting him as DG, CRPF.
Meanwhile, Prakash Mishra had also filed a writ petition in
the Orissa High Court challenging the case against him. In a significant
judgement quashing the FIR against Mishra, Justice SC Parija of the Orissa High
Court has made some stinging observations against the Odisha Government.
One observation said: “It is not very uncommon in our
country that honest and upright public servants with unimpeachable integrity
and having impeccable track record are often hounded by the ruling political
establishment for extraneous consideration. In the present case, what is more disturbing
is that that the Director, Vigilance, to whom the file was marked by the Chief
Minister for conducting an enquiry, has abdicated his duty and
responsibility...the action or rather the wilful inaction of the Director,
Vigilance, in not ensuring free, fair and proper enquiry into the matter and
allowing the report of a sham enquiry to be accepted and giving his consent for
seeking approval of the state government for registration of criminal case
against the petitioners (Mishra and one more official) clearly shows that he
was more concerned in exhibiting his loyalty to the ruling political
establishment, akin to the old British adage of ‘more loyal than the King’.”
The Court said: “...The conclusion is irresistible that the
allegations made in the impugned FIR and the materials available in the case
diary...do not constitute or disclose commission of any cognisible offence and
therefore, allowing continuance of the criminal proceeding against the present petitioners
would be an abuse of the process of Court and result in serious miscarriage of
justice...(therefore) all consequential criminal proceedings are hereby
quashed.”
The Court’s harsh language is proof enough that the State
government was acting out of personal prejudice and possibly even vendetta
against one of the senior-most police officers in the country.
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