PIL claims extortion racket trapping businessmen through bogus cases in Kashmir

HC seeks report from Registrar Vigilance

PIL claims extortion racket trapping businessmen through bogus cases in Kashmir

Srinagar: The J&K High Court has directed its Registrar Vigilance to enquire and report on criminal cases registered against non-state residents in south Kashmir as a Public Interest litigation (PIL) alleged an extortion racket built on bogus cases against businessmen of the country.
The PIL alleged abuse of criminal law process, and a nexus of bureaucrats, politicians and police officials in the cases involving extortion of money from reputed businessmen of the country.
“Before issuing notice in the matter, we direct Registrar Vigilance of this court to submit a report after making enquiry giving details of cases which have been registered against the persons who are not residents of the state of J&K and have been implicated in criminal cases in the South Kashmir,” The Division Bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rashid Ali Dar said.
The court sought details including particulars of litigants and the offences, to be filed by or before November 19.
The PIL filed by one Bal Kishan Gupta of Delhi states that he came to know through media reports about a racket wherein members of judiciary, police, bureaucrats and politicians are involved in extortion by filing frivolous and bogus litigations against reputed businessmen of the country.
The petitioner alleges that cases are being filed against non-state subjects at the hands of some locals operating within the jurisdiction of Anantnag, Kulgam and Qazigund.
The petition alleged that complainants in most cases were the same, working on instructions from one Pankaj Jain of some ‘Host Finance & Investments Pvt.Ltd.’
He said an FIR was registered already in the matter at Police Station Anantnag in June under section 420, 467 and 468 of RPC and the investigation entrusted to the Special Investigation Team.
The entire racket is run “in connivance with some of the lawyers and other law enforcing agencies who manage to obtain orders from courts by filing fictitious and fake cases against innocent people particularly reputed businessmen across the country are duped and looted by these fraud people.”
The petitioner claimed that investigation into the matter was not following the required course, due to involvement of high level officers in the scam.
He therefore pleaded for the case to be handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation, and for investigation to be concluded in a fixed time frame under supervision of High Court.

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