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Office of the Odisha Lokayukta vs. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi and Others (Civil Appeal arising out of SLP(C) No. 6261-6262 of 2021)

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 154Decided 23 Feb 2023
Civil Appeal Nos. 1384-1385 of 2023
Ajay Rastogi · Bela M. Trivedi

Background

A Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Vigilance Cell filed a complaint alleging corruption (disproportionate assets) against a sitting MLA of the Gopalpur Constituency, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi. Acting on this, the Odisha Lokayukta directed the Directorate of Vigilance to conduct a preliminary inquiry under Section 20(1) of the Odisha Lokayukta Act, 2014. The MLA challenged this order before the Orissa High Court, which set it aside on the very first hearing, without giving the Lokayukta any opportunity to respond, holding that entrusting the inquiry to the Directorate of Vigilance was not permitted under the Act; a review petition by the Lokayukta was also dismissed without reasons.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that the High Court's order itself violated natural justice, since it decided against the Lokayukta without giving it any hearing: a basic requirement of audi alteram partem. On merits, the Court held the High Court had misread the statute: Sections 25 and 28 of the Act expressly allow the Lokayukta to use any government agency, including the Directorate of Vigilance/State Vigilance and Crime Branch, to conduct a preliminary inquiry, so there was no legal defect in directing the Directorate of Vigilance to inquire. The Court also rejected the argument that the process was tainted by bias merely because a Vigilance officer had filed the original complaint, since he was only an informant and the actual inquiry was conducted independently by a different, senior officer, citing precedent that bias must be shown on the specific facts, not presumed from an officer's departmental affiliation. It further held the Lokayukta clearly had "locus standi" (legal standing) to appeal since its own order had been struck down, making it an aggrieved party. The appeals were allowed, and both the High Court's original order and its review dismissal were set aside.

Lesson Learnt

A court cannot decide a case against a party without first giving that party a chance to be heard, even at a preliminary stage; and a statutory anti-corruption body's choice to route a preliminary inquiry through an existing government vigilance agency (as the law expressly permits) is not, by itself, evidence of bias just because a member of that same agency was the original informant.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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