VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 19: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday said that Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan is accused in a criminal case and he can’t be allowed to file an affidavit on behalf of the state in the stone mining lease issue pertaining to Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
“What a deponent you have selected to swear on behalf of the state who is charge-sheeted in a criminal case under section 13 (1) (D) of the Prevention of the Corruption Act and whose passport was confiscated,” Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan said.
Notably, the Ranchi DC is facing investigation for allegedly cutting six forest trees in 2015 at his official residence when he was DC of Koderma. An FIR 18/2015 was lodged at Markaccho police station and the case was transferred to the Vigilance Bureau.
“Through media reports, I have come to know that he is an accused in a criminal case. Then how the state allowed an accused charge-sheeted by the court to file the reply,” Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan observed. He said this while hearing a bunch of PILs regarding allegations of shell companies, mining lease to CM, and MNREGA scam involving arrested IAS Pooja Singhal.
Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan replied that Chhavi Ranjan was asked to represent the state in his capacity as deputy commissioner of Ranchi on whose order the stone mining lease was granted to the chief minister. He said that Chhavi Ranjan is a competent authority to file the affidavit. He may be an accused but not held guilty so far,” the advocate general said.
The Chief Justice said that Chhavi Ranjan may be competent for the state but not for the court. “You can make him the secretary; you make him the secretary of the Anti-Corruption Bureau. You can do it all. But how can an accused file the affidavit on behalf of the state?” the Chief Justice said.
The advocate general further argued on the same line and said that he was not aware whether the DC of Ranchi is an accused in a criminal case. The court snubbed and directed him to immediately inquire from Chhavi Ranjan whether or not he is an accused and charge-sheeted.
“What are you talking about, advocate general? An accused even can’t file his bail petition before the court and here you are allowing him to file an affidavit on behalf of the state. Ranchi DC who was booked under section 13 (1) (D) under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been allowed to file an affidavit in this case. This is a criminal case in which the Jharkhand government is a prosecution agency against the Ranchi DC and the government is allowed to file the affidavit on its behalf. The question is whether an accused can be allowed to swear on behalf of the state?“ The court noted and directed the advocate general to explain this.
Rajiv Kumar, the lawyer of the petitioners, informed the court that the Ranchi DC is accused in a vigilance case and he was granted bail by the High Court. He further said that Chhavi Ranjan filed a petition before the High Court CRMP 3317/2021. Later on, the advocate general conceded that Ranchi DC is an accused and charge-sheeted.
The chief justice immediately called related documents from the High Court for perusal. The court wondered as it was discovered that being an accused Chhavi Ranjan had to surrender his passport. “His passport is also confiscated,” the court pointed out. The advocate general pointed out that these things are not relevant to the present case. The Chief Justice said that he would explain how these things are relevant to this case.
