Top babus names missing from FIR before court hearing:Corporation commissioner and SDM names dropped from chargesheet; ruling faces court challenge

The investigation into the alleged multi-crore corruption case at Dewas City Transport Services Limited has raised serious questions about the functioning of the Lokayukta police. A petition filed in court alleges that senior officials were deliberately shielded, with their names dropped from the chargesheet despite being named in the FIR. The controversy centres around the Lokayukta’s decision to remove the names of the then Managing Director (MD), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) from the chargesheet submitted to the court. The justification offered was that the “financial loss caused to the government has been recovered”, and therefore no criminal case survives against them. Challenging this reasoning, complainant Dharmendra Chauhan has filed an application in the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Dewas, seeking to re-induct the officers as accused. Petition filed under CrPC Section 319 The application has been filed under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which empowers courts to summon additional accused if evidence indicates their involvement in the offence. The petition seeks to make the following officers accused again: The petitioner argues that offences such as criminal conspiracy, misappropriation and cheating had already taken place, and recovery of money later does not nullify the crime. FIR registered in July 2023 Following a detailed probe, the Lokayukta police registered an FIR in July 2023. The FIR named: They were booked under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). Chargesheet omits senior officers, raises questions The petition states that during the preliminary inquiry and FIR investigation, the Lokayukta itself found the role of all three senior officers to be suspicious and directly involved. However, when the chargesheet was filed in court, their names were mysteriously removed. In response to queries, the Lokayukta argued that since the financial loss incurred during their tenure had been recovered, prosecuting them was unnecessary. The complainant has termed this argument legally flawed and contrary to established criminal law principles. Allegations against the officials: Layer-by-layer details Inflated bills and Mechanical approvals It is alleged that Vishwas Transport submitted inflated bills for bus equipment and maintenance. For example, items costing Rs 100 were billed at Rs 150. As MD, Vishal Singh Chauhan was responsible for verifying physical stock and matching bills with original invoices. The petition claims he approved inflated bills without verification. Since government subsidy (VGF) was calculated as a percentage of total expenditure, inflated bills led to an illegal increase in subsidy, directly harming the state exchequer. Major decisions taken without board approval Key decisions such as: were taken “in anticipation” of Board of Directors approval. However, the petition alleges these proposals were never placed before the board later, indicating deliberate concealment and criminal conspiracy. Serious lapses in monitoring and oversight New buses not purchased In a board meeting held on January 4, 2022, Vishwas Transport was permitted to sell five old buses and immediately replace them with new ones. Even after one year and four months, no new buses were purchased, while three sold buses. ₹23.86 lakh subsidy loss Rules mandated immediate recovery of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) subsidy if buses were not replaced. However, nearly ₹23.86 lakh was not recovered in time, causing significant loss to the government. The petition alleges COO Suryaprakash Tiwari was fully aware of these violations but neither informed the MD nor initiated action against the operator. ‘CIBIL score is poor’ — operator’s shocking explanation When questioned by the Lokayukta about the failure to purchase new buses, the private operator reportedly claimed that his CIBIL score had deteriorated, preventing him from securing bank loans. The petition describes this explanation as absurd, noting that such a justification was accepted without action against the operator. Administrative action within 24 hours of FIR Highlighting the seriousness of the allegations, the petition notes that within 24 hours of FIR registration, the District Collector Rishabh Gupta removed SDM Pradeep Soni from his post—an action indicating prima facie credibility of the charges. Court’s decision now crucial The complainant has cited provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNS) Section 353 and CrPC Section 319, which empower courts to summon additional accused even if their names are not in the chargesheet. The Dewas court will now decide whether the Lokayukta’s logic—“money recovered, crime erased”—is legally sustainable. If the court allows the petition and orders the re-induction of the three officers as accused, it could mark a significant moment in the fight against corruption and send a strong message on accountability. RSS also concerned ahead of centenary year RSS leaders have reportedly expressed concern that the divisions are reaching rural areas and could affect Hindu unity programmes planned during the organisation’s centenary year. An RSS office-bearer said resentment is visible across communities and may impact grassroots mobilisation. BJP begins damage control efforts Amid protests and the Supreme Court’s intervention, a high-level meeting was held on Wednesday at the Delhi residence of Raipur MP Brijmohan Agrawal. The meeting included two Union ministers involved in the UGC committee and around 15 MPs. Leaders, including Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Bansuri Swaraj, and others, discussed future strategy, stressing the BJP’s commitment to “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.” State BJP awaits central decision Political observers say the Uttar Pradesh BJP unit is now awaiting a clear decision from the Centre. Any move to address the caste divide caused by the UGC issue is expected to come from the central leadership, which the state unit will then follow.