The court gave a ruling in a corruption case in which the accused had questioned the legality of the FIR on the grounds that it was not preceded by a preliminary enquiry.
The ruling came on an appeal by the CBI against a Telangana High Court’s February 11, 2020, ruling which had quashed the FIR filed against the duo on the grounds that no preliminary enquiry was done, and set aside all proceedings against them.
Thommandru Hannah Vijayalakshmi is a commissioner in the IT department while her spouse was an MLA and a minister in the Andhra government. A bench led by DY Chandrachud gave the ruling. The other two judges on the bench were justices Vikram Nath and BV Nagarathna.
The CBI had registered an FIR punishable under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 109, IPC, against her and named her husband as an abettor in the crime. The CBI had alleged that she had amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹1,10,81,692, which was 22.86% of the income earned during the period April 1, 2010 to February 29, 2016.
The SC ruled that PE was not always needed to be carried out before registering an FIR if the information discloses a cognisable offence. A preliminary enquiry may be made in corruption cases but is not mandatory, it said. The purpose of a PE is to screen frivolous and motivated complaints. In this case information was available to show prima facie allegations disclosing a cognisable offence, the court said.
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