Supreme Court revives assets case against Andhra Minister, wife

Preliminary probe not always mandatory in corruption cases against public servants: Bench

The Supreme Court on Friday revived a disproportionate assets case against Andhra Pradesh Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh and his wife while holding that the CBI need not always conduct a preliminary enquiry before registering an FIR against public servants in corruption cases.

A three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud set aside a decision of the Telangana High Court in February 2020 to quash the corruption/disproportionate assets case against Mr. Suresh and his wife, T.H. Viajayalakshmi, an Income Tax Commissioner.

The High Court had reasoned that the CBI had straightaway registered the FIR without bothering to first conduct a preliminary enquiry into the couple’s “known sources of income” like income tax returns, election affidavits or information submitted to the Government under the Central Civil Services Rules. The High Court had found the corruption charges “prima facie unsustainable” after going through these sources of income on its own.