The Bombay High Court has quashed the FIR, chargesheet and consequential criminal proceedings against four former Jet Airways employees accused of bribing an Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation officer to process their provident-fund claims.
Justice Milind Jadhav allowed petitions filed by Raman Sharma, Ashish Hingarh, Rishiraj Chawla and Paul Louis, who included three former pilots and a former ground staff employee. The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code.
The case arose from allegations concerning claims filed at the EPFO’s Kandivli office. According to the CBI case, Machindra Bamne, a senior security assistant at the office, demanded and received illegal gratification from provident-fund claimants. EPFO vigilance had complained to the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau in Mumbai after allegations that 13 employees transferred a combined Rs 1.77 lakh to a joint bank account held by Bamne and his wife, Rupali.
The four petitioners’ lawyers told the court that the employees had been unable to access their provident-fund dues because of technical glitches on the EPFO portal. They said Bamne had been recommended to them as a private consultant who could help process their claims, and that the petitioners did not know he was an EPFO employee or a public servant.
The CBI argued that the proximity between the dates of the transfers and the processing of the respective claims established a nexus. Justice Jadhav, however, held that this circumstance alone was insufficient to establish the criminal intention required for an offence under Section 8. The court said that merely paying money to a person who happens to be a public servant would not, by itself, constitute the offence; the prosecution must prima facie establish the intention accompanying the payment.
The ruling also referred to material indicating that Bamne had concealed from EPFO authorities that he was operating a consultancy in his wife’s name. The court said this supported the petitioners’ contention that they believed they were dealing with a private consultant. Bamne was not the authority competent to approve the release of provident-fund amounts.
The court further held that several people independently approaching the same consultant for assistance could not, by itself, establish a criminal conspiracy among them. It concluded that continuing the proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of law.
The CBI registered the FIR in July 2023, and a CBI court issued process in April 2024. The High Court’s order now sets aside the FIR, chargesheet and related proceedings against the four former Jet Airways employees.
