Rajasthan HC summons probe officer in Alwar ex-royal land case

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday summoned the investigating officer (IO) in an ACB case over a land dispute involving former Union minister

Bhanwar Jitendra Singh

.


The court has summoned the IO for closing the case despite the ACB finding merit in the charges in its preliminary enquiry (PE). The IO is required to appear in court on May 14.

A single bench comprising Justice Mahendra Maheshwari passed the interim order on a petition filed by Ashok Pathak, an RTI activist. The petitioner approached the high court seeking an FIR against Singh, who is Congress candidate from

Alwar

Lok Sabha constituency.

The petitioner alleged that late Maharaja Sawai Tej Singh, the grandfather of the former union minister, had filed a suit in 1998 for correction in revenue records and asked for a certain land (recorded as mountain and cemetery) to be named as his land. The revenue suit was dismissed on November 30, 1999. Through a restoration suit, the case was restored, only to be dismissed again in 2005. In 2009, Jitendra Singh filed an application to restore the suit yet again. In due course, SDM Narayan Singh illegally changed entries in the revenue record in favour of Singh, the petitioner has alleged in court.

“We approached the ACB on January 27, 2014. After verification, the then additional SP (ACB) Piyush Dixit found Narayan Singh prima facie guilty. Yet, the ACB filed a closure report in the case on June 29, 2016, on the ground that SDMs are protected under the Judges Protection Act. Thus, we moved an application against the closure report to investigate the case afresh and lodge an FIR against Singh,” said Ashok Pathak, the petitioner in the case.