Maintain balance in prosecuting guilty, protecting innocent: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said there has to be a “fine balance” between prosecuting a guilty public servant and protecting an innocent officer from “vexatious, frivolous and mala fide prosecution” to enable him fearlessly discharge his duties.

The apex court’s observations came while awarding compensation to a former Uttar Pradesh Indian Forest Service officer who had approached the court alleging fabrication in vigilance cases.

“Until and unless we maintain a fine balance between prosecuting a guilty officer and protecting an innocent officer from vexatious, frivolous and mala fide prosecution, it would be very difficult for the public servant to discharge his duties in free and fair manner.

“The efficiency of a public servant demands that he should be free to perform his official duties fearlessly and without any favour. The dire necessity is to fill in the existing gap by protecting the honest officers while making the corrupt officers realize that they are not above law,” a bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N V Ramana said. The apex court was hearing a plea by former Indian Forest Service officer Ram Lakhan Singh who had approached it seeking compensation for being falsely implicated in vigilance cases by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Singh had contended that “because of the malicious, willful and contemptuous acts of the state (UP) and clear abuse of legal process, he and his family members had to suffer a great ordeal of mental agony and heavy financial loss, besides being defamed in the society”.