India: HC quashes criminal case against IPS officer Jaffer Sait

Chennai, May 24 (PTI) The Madras High Court has quashed a criminal case pending against senior IPS officer Jaffer Sait for alleged loss caused to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in connection with allotment of a residential plot in his wife's name under the government discretionary quota (GDQ).

Justice P Rajamanickam on Thursday quashed the proceedings of the criminal case as the Union Home Ministry declined sanction for prosecution against the officer through an order dated November 29, 2013.

Despite such an order, the case had been kept pending for over five years.

Sait submitted that recently the state government initiated the process of appointment to the post of head of police force, and a probable list of IPS officers with his name in the second place has been sent to the selection committee.

The state government's two-year extension to present DGP T K Rajendran is till June 30.

Sait said he was apprehensive about the pending criminal case before the special court for DVAC cases, even after it has become redundant with the passing of sanction declining order by the home ministry, affecting his chances before the selection committee.

He also submitted that he had no role in the allotment of the residential plot and no pecuniary advantage was obtained in the allotment either by him or his wife.

"In fact, monetary loss to the tune of Rs 14 lakh was suffered by his family in the form of penal interest to TNHB when the allotment, previously made in the name of his daughter, was cancelled," Sait said.

The subsequent allotment in his wife's name was made with enhanced price of Rs 1.26 crore through which the family incurred Rs 34 lakh as loss, he added.