Jaipur, Dec 13 (IANS) The Rajasthan government has declined to grant prosecution sanction against Rajasthan Police Service (RPS) officer Divya Mittal, delivering a major setback to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) nearly three years after her arrest in a Rs 2 crore bribery case.
Divya Mittal, then posted as ASP with the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Ajmer, was arrested by the ACB on January 16, 2023, on allegations that she demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a Haridwar-based pharmaceutical businessman to remove his name from a major drug trafficking case.
The drug case originated in May 2021, when medicines worth Rs 5 crore were seized in Jaipur.
A total of 114 cartons of narcotic drugs were recovered from a warehouse in Ajmer, and the total drug seizure was valued at Rs 16 crore.
Raids were conducted in Delhi, Noida, Kolkata, and other cities. Mittal was the investigating officer in the case. According to the complaint, the bribe demand was allegedly conveyed through a dismissed constable. A deal was allegedly struck for Rs 50 lakh.
An attempt to deliver the first instalment of Rs 25 lakh failed due to ACB intervention. The government cited multiple procedural and evidentiary lapses while denying prosecution approval.
It said that no prior approval was taken under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act before the arrest. Also, audio recordings were allegedly tampered with. FSL confirmed the audio, but failed to identify whose voice it was.
Further, Divya Mittal refused to give a voice sample. So no direct or concrete evidence was produced linking her to the bribe demand.
Due to these shortcomings, the State government concluded that prosecution could not be sustained.
Meanwhile, following the arrest, Mittal’s flat in Ajmer, a resort in Udaipur, and other locations were searched; She remained in Ajmer jail for over 70 days and photographs of her standing in line with female inmates were seen on social media.
After securing bail, the ACB registered a disproportionate assets case against her.
Mittal, in turn, accused the ACB of fabricating evidence and acting with malicious intent.
After examining the case record and hearing Divya Mittal’s version, the government refused prosecution approval, effectively giving her a clean chit and raising serious questions about the ACB’s conduct and credibility.
--IANS
arc/dan