Rajasthan HC allows ACB to act against former minister in single-lease case

Jaipur – The Rajasthan High Court has cleared the way for the Anti‑Corruption Bureau (ACB) to reopen a long‑running lease‑fraud case that once saw former state minister Shanti Dhariwal cleared by the Gehlot government.

In a ruling today, Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma approved the ACB’s request to take fresh action on the single‑lease allegation. The decision also lets the court hear protest petitions that challenge the ACB’s prior closure reports. The next hearing is scheduled for December 5.

Government lawyers, including ASG S.V. Raju and AAG Shiv Mangal Sharma, argued that Dhariwal’s petition was not maintainable because no charge sheet had ever been filed and the protest matters were already pending before the ACB court. Dhariwal’s counsel countered that he had been named in the original complaint but was later given a clean chit after a 2019 investigation. The defense said Dhariwal could appeal to the High Court after the trial court rejected the closure report.

With the court’s order, the ACB can now investigate again, and Dhariwal may once more be called for questioning.

The case traces back to a lease issued by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) on June 29, 2011, to Shailendra Garg of Ganpati Construction. A complaint by Ramsharan Singh in 2013 prompted the arrest of several officials, including then‑ACS G.S. Sandhu and deputy secretary Nishkam Diwakar. The lease was cancelled in May 2013. The Vasundhara Raje government filed the case in 2014, but under the Gehlot government the ACB submitted three closure reports that gave Dhariwal and other officials the nod of innocence.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered the Chief Justice to personally hear the case, invalidating prior High Court rulings that had dismissed the proceedings against the accused. The Rajasthan High Court’s latest decision now restores the possibility for the ACB to bring the case forward again.

arc/dan

Source: ianslive


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