IELTS 'Scam': Gujarat High Court Directs Magistrate Court To Decide Police's Closure Report Afresh

The Gujarat High Court has ordered a Magistrate Court in Mehsana to decide afresh the closure report filed by Police in a case pertaining to alleged fabrication of ILETS results.

Justice L S Pirzada upheld the sessions court's order on not accepting police's summary report but set aside its direction on appointment of another officer to investigate the case further.

The High Court rather directed the Magistrate court to hear the matter "afresh" without being influenced by either sessions court's order of the high court's order.

As per allegations, four persons were caught illegally entering the USA. They had secured 8 bands in I.E.L.T.S. examination but during the proceedings in America, they were not able to understand English and had to be asked questions in Hindi through a translator.

A news report was published in the Times of India in May 2021 and subsequently, the U.S. Consulate General also sent email to the Police authorities.

After the preliminary inquiry, it was found that these four students had allegedly committed irregularity in securing the high score certificate in I.E.L.T.S. examination. Based on this, a probe was launched in an FIR registered against 45 persons.

The FIR is lodged under IPC Sections 406(criminal breach of trust), 420(cheating), 465(forgery), 467(Forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468(forgery for cheating), 471(using forged document as genuine), and 120(B) (Criminal Conspiracy) and Gujarat Police Act.

The case was transferred to another police official, who is stated to have found insufficient evidence and filed a B Summary report.

After considering the matter, the High Court confirmed the Sessions Court order to the extent it set aside the Magistrate Court, to decide the same afresh. However, it ordered,

"The order passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Mehsana to the extent of direction issued to the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mehsana for passing the appropriate order of sending the case to the Director General of Police for appointing the honest and competent police officer to the rank of P.I. or Dy.S.P. for making further investigation of the case on all aspects of the objections submitted by the previous investigating officer...is hereby quashed and set aside.

The high court also noted that as per the report of the IO as the offence has been committed in Navsari, therefore, Mehsana police has no jurisdiction to investigate the case.; however the original informant and previous investigating officer had categorically stated in his objections before the Chief Judicial Magistrate that the accused has applied for visa in Mehsana and filled up the form of I.E.L.T.S. examination from Mehsana.

It was also observed that as per Section 232 of the Gujarat Police Act, before submitting the final report, the officer has to seek sanction from his higher officer. On the provision regarding submission of final report the act states, that "a request should also be made to the Magistrate to classify the case and to issue an appropriate summary of his order, viz,: ...(ii) "B" Maliciously false". 

Finding no illegality committed by the sessions court the high court said, 

"Therefore, from the conduct of investigating officer...it is found that within a period of two months, he has completed the investigation and the investigation has not been done properly and even without waiting for the opinion of the handwriting expert, he jumped to the conclusion that no sufficient evidence has been found and the offence has been committed in Navsari and not in Mehsana but, in the case, the investigation can be transferred to Navsari also...Hence, considering this, the findings recorded by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, setting aside the order passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mehsana, who, in turn, accepted the 'B' summary report, is found to be just and proper. I do not find any illegality having committed by the revisional Court. I also do not find any reason to interfere with the findings recorded by the revisional Court, which do not warrant any interference. Further, the revisional Court has rightly rejected the order of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mehsana and remitted the matter back to the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate to decide afresh the 'B' summary report submitted..." the court said. 

On the sessions court's direction to magisterial court to send the case to the DGP Gujarat for appointing an honest and competent police officer to the rank of P.I. or Dy.S.P. for making further investigation, the high court said that the same was not correct in law and "no Court can direct any Judicial Officer to pass such an order", as it is "always a domain of the concerned Magistrate to pass appropriate order". 

Thus the plea was partly allowed.

Case title: AMITKUMAR SURENDRABHAI CHAUDHARY v/s  STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.

Click Here To Read/Download Order