High court provides relief to two former tax officials in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts

Bombay High Court says there is no evidence to prove the charges against them

Mumbai:

The Bombay High Court has granted relief to two retired central excise officials, nearly 20 years after they were disciplined for allegedly allowing explosives used in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in the city to land.

Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor, while quashing the disciplinary order, said there was no evidence to prove the case against them in the departmental proceedings charges filed.

In its judgment on the Board of Central Excise, the HC said that retired directors of the Central Board of Excise, SM Padwal and Yashwant Lotale, should be entitled to all consequential benefits such as arrears of salary and pension, which would be disbursed to them within two months supply. March 4th.

On March 12, 1993, 12 bombs exploded in different locations in Mumbai, killing 257 people and injuring more than 700 others.

The special court subsequently convicted 100 people in the case and acquitted 23 others.

The HC noted that Padwal and Lotale were not facing any criminal trial in the case.

The statement said the charges against them were not substantiated based on what it said was available evidence.

“Our irrefutable conclusion is that this is a case with absolutely no evidence and, therefore, the conclusion reached by the disciplinary inspection agency in issuing the penalty order was wrong,” the Supreme Court said.

The High Court said the only evidence against them was the alleged confession given by the accused to police during the investigation.

The judge said: “We believe that this (confession) cannot be used as a basis for punishment of the employee in this case.”

Padwal and Lotale are accused of accepting illegal bribes to allow the landing of a cargo containing explosives, weapons and ammunition used in the bomb blast.

They were accused of failing to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and of acting in a manner unbecoming of a government servant.

Padwal was ordered to be dismissed from public service, while Lothale was forced to retire and was deemed to receive only 65% ​​of the full pension and gratuity.

Two police officers challenged the order before the Central Administrative Tribunal. While Padwal’s dismissal order was quashed by the court, Lotale’s disciplinary order was upheld.

Lotale then moved the high court, while the federal government filed a petition in the high court against the court order granting relief to Padwal.

The Supreme Council dismissed the federal government’s petition against Padwal and allowed Lotale’s plea.

The court said that the statements made by the accused in front of the police in the 1993 serial bomb blasts criminal case cannot be relied upon in departmental proceedings.

The report noted that authorities relied heavily on the confessions of four defendants in departmental proceedings but did not examine them during the proceedings.

“Such confessions made in criminal cases cannot form the basis of charges in departmental proceedings,” the high court said.

The two refuted the accusations.

They said there was no evidence against them and that the disciplinary action against them was based solely on the statements of some police officers who relied on the confessions of defendants in the 1993 serial bomb blast case.

The pair further stated that they were never named as defendants in a criminal case.

However, the federal government said that due to laxity and misconduct on the part of officials, contraband such as explosives, weapons and ammunition were allowed to land and then used in serial bomb blasts.

In his ruling, the judge stated that even in departmental proceedings, suspicion cannot be substituted for evidence, and the disciplinary inspection department should reach a conclusion of guilt based on solid evidence.

“In these two departmental proceedings, the employees (Padwal and Lotale) were not tried as accused persons in the criminal cases investigated by the CBI and even certain other departmental officials were prosecuted,” the high court said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)