Indore– One accused in a multi-crore corruption case involving Indore Municipal Corporation, Abhay Rathore, is in jail now. The current investigating officer is Vijay Sisodia, wife of Rathore Shalini, who has filed a petition in the photocopy High Court seeking the removal of the investigating officer. The petition, comprising 80 pages, was jointly presented by High Court advocate Manohar Dalal on behalf of Shalini Rathore. This can be affirmed by the petition, which revealed some serious misconduct on the part of the investigating officer.
As per the statement made by the advocate Manohar Dalal for Vijay Sisodia, the latter has been the one exerting extra pressure to dispose of the case in the district court. A while back, Sisodia released a notice describing the case that Shalini Rathore had taken to the district court level as merely a complaint he intended to investigate. The advocate Dalal said that this was a ploy intended at the senior citizen Sisodia to try and persuade Rathore to come with him to the police station with the view of altering a statement to his favour. Dalal explained that this would make a pathway to the current charges of corruption being dropped by Sisodia.
The said petition also avers that Sisodia has been enmeshed in corruption scandals and has been known to endorse bribes. This behaviour, as alleged in the petition, vitiates the due process of the investigation, and he should be removed from the case immediately.
While discussing corruption charges against Abhay Rathore, advocate Dalal pointed out that the district court has not made any order regarding the charges. He feared that since Sisodia was still engaged in the probe into the allegations, this might lead to the possibility of the bribery case being thrown out of court due to unfavourable prejudice.
This application seeks to protect the investigation from compromise by using a more ethical officer to move away from the petitioner, thus avoiding compromise of influence. This case is not unique to Hemant and Shalini Rathore; it drives a simple point about accountability and transparency while dealing with such serious and extensive corruption charges that impact the public governance in the municipal area.
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