Coach allotment ‘fraud’ case: Ex-railway official among 4 acquitted

New Delhi: Acquitting four accused, including a 1998-batch officer of Indian Railway Traffic Service, a Delhi court recently observed that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt.Special judge Sudhanshu Kaushik was hearing a case in which former railway official Ravi Mohan Sharma was accused of receiving illegal gratification of Rs 5 lakh for facilitating the allotment of rail coaches after entering a criminal conspiracy with Rajesh Champak Lal Jodhani, Kumar Vadilal Shah and a private company, Rail Tour (India) LLP. The case was registered against the four in 2019 under IPC Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.Pointing out that the official sanction for prosecuting Sharma was not obtained, the court said the prosecution failed to establish that the accused persons entered a criminal conspiracy. It added that the prosecution's evidence was presented in bits and pieces.Highlighting "serious infirmities" in the investigation, the court said the sanctity of the case property was not preserved. A CD, which formed the basis of the investigation and on which the transcripts were prepared, kept lying with the investigating agency in an unsealed condition, it added. Criticising "interpolations and alterations" found in some documents which were not explained, the court said the foundational facts on which the allegations were based were not proved.