CBI joint director convicted in 25-year-old pre-dawn raid case; arrest was ‘mala fide’, says court

The national capital's Tis Hazari Court has convicted a sitting CBI Joint Director, Ramneesh Geer, and retired ACP V.K. Pandey in a case related to a pre-dawn raid carried out in October 2000. The court found both guilty under Sections 323, 427, 448 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) -- charges related to voluntarily causing hurt, mischief, criminal trespass and common intent.

The court ruled that the officers abused their powers in the operation, which was aimed at defeating a CAT order dated September 28, 2000, directing a review of the suspension.

The raid -- carried out at 5 am on October 19, 2000 -- targeted Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, then Deputy Director of Enforcement (1985 IRS batch). “The entire search and arrest proceedings were in sheer violation of law and aimed solely at frustrating the CAT order… established beyond reasonable doubt," the court noted.

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Finding a conspiracy angle, the court said a secret meeting on October 18 that year led to a planned raid the next morning. Instead of responding to vigilance queries, a coordinated plan was executed to arrest him, allegedly in retaliation and to delay the review of his suspension, the court noted.

The court refused to grant protection under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which requires prior government sanction before prosecuting public servants for acts done in official duty.

It was established that forcible entry was made during the search operation, with door-breaking confirmed from the accused’s own records. A series of misconducts were found, including custodial violence, with manhandling and physical injuries backed by affidavits and eyewitness accounts.

During the raid, a security guard was assaulted, the premises' boundary wall was scaled and the main door broken open, Aggarwal was dragged from his bedroom in undergarments, and his family was locked inside the house. He was taken to an undisclosed location before being produced at a hospital.

The complainant in two separate CBI cases was discharged by the court before trial, indicating insufficient evidence to proceed with the charges.

The court found that the October 2000 raid was launched as a retaliatory action.

Aggarwal had flagged interference in sensitive investigations under the erstwhile Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, which was later replaced by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in 2000. His complaints named influential individuals and were submitted through multiple representations to authorities.

The court held that the violations were proved "beyond reasonable doubt" and accepted that the delay in filing the complaint was due to fear.

The court is scheduled to announce sentencing next week.