Assam: Gauhati HC upholds change of status for suspended APS officer in APSC case

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has rejected a petition by suspended Assam Police Service (APS) officer Sukanya Das challenging a lower court's decision to designate her as an accused in the APSC cash-for-job scam.

Das was initially listed as a prosecution witness in the case investigating bribery allegations in APSC appointments. However, the course of the investigation shifted dramatically in November 2023.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the scam arrested Sukanya Das based on what they claimed was new evidence. This evidence reportedly suggested that Das herself had secured her position through unlawful means, possibly in collaboration with other accused individuals.

Das's legal team contested the change in her status, arguing that the lower court lacked proper legal justification.

Their primary argument centered on the absence of a crucial police report mandated by Section 173(8) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). This report, they argued, is a necessary precursor before the court can designate someone as an accused.

Justice Mridul Kumar Kalita, the presiding judge in the High Court case, acknowledged the missing Section 173(8) report. However, his ruling offered a crucial distinction.

"There is nothing in the impugned order which shows that the learned Special Judge has taken cognizance of offence, under Section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against the present petitioner for trial against her. The submission made by the learned Additional Public Prosecutor seems to have forced that the plea raised by the learned senior counsel for the petitioner to be premature, as the further investigation against the present petitioner is yet to conclude and the Investigating Officer is yet to file the report under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, against the present petitioner,” Justice Kalita observed.

The Judge clarified that the lower court's order did not constitute taking cognizance of an offence against Das for immediate trial. Instead, the judge explained, the change in status was a procedural step to facilitate further investigation into her alleged involvement in the scam.

The High Court's decision paves the way for the SIT to continue investigating Das's potential role in the APSC recruitment scandal.

The court maintained that the final decision to prosecute Das would hinge on the completion of the investigation and the filing of a formal charge sheet based on the gathered evidence.