The Kohima Bench of Gauhati High Court quashed a vigilance case against EN Kithan, ruling that the Lokayukta has no authority to dispose of criminal proceedings.
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DIMAPUR — The Kohima Bench of Gauhati High Court has quashed a decade-old vigilance case registered against former Director of Land Records and Survey, EN Kithan, holding that the criminal proceedings were illegal and amounted to an abuse of the process of law.
In a recent judgement, Justice Yarenjungla Longkumer set aside Vigilance Police Station case No. A.VIG-17/2015, ruling that the case was initiated without the mandatory registration of a First Information Report (FIR) as required under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The court observed that the erstwhile Vigilance Police Station had initiated criminal proceedings in 2015 on the basis of an office note referring to a CAG audit report, without any information disclosing the commission of a cognisable offence and without any informant.
“A duly registered FIR is sacrosanct at the entry point to initiate a criminal case, which is missing in the instant case,” the court held.
Kithan had served as Director of Land Records and Survey from June 3, 2014, to June 30, 2023. The case pertained to alleged misappropriation of INR 1.24 crore under the National Land Records Modernisation Programme, flagged in a CAG audit report for the year 2013–2014.
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The court, during the hearing, took note of the fact that the audit period preceded Kithan’s tenure as director.
It also took note of a June 13, 2014 letter issued by the state government to the accountant general (Audit), Nagaland, stating that the alleged misappropriation had arisen due to a communication gap and that irregularities in fund appropriation had not been established.
The government had requested that the matter be dropped.
Significantly, the court held that the subsequent disposal of the case by the Upa-Lokayukta in March 2025 was without jurisdiction.
It ruled that the Lokayukta or Upa-Lokayukta is neither a court nor a tribunal and has no authority under law to dispose of criminal proceedings.
“The Nagaland Lokayukta Act 2017 may allow inquiries but unless the Act deems its officers as police officers or declares its office a ‘police station’ under Section 2 (s) CrPC/2(1)(u) BNSS and declare the officer in charge under Section 2(o) CrPC/2(1)(R) BNSS, they cannot investigate offences under the CrPC or any other special laws/PC Act.
“An organisation without statutory backing cannot register FIRs or investigate offences under the CrPC,” the court ruled.
Holding that the initial action itself was illegal, the court quashed the vigilance case as well as the subsequent order passed by the Upa-Lokayukta.