Rajasthan HC registry loses repeat offender’s case file

A case file related to an accused repeat offender in a financial fraud case has gone missing from the Rajasthan High Court Registry, with the Supreme Court allowing the petitioner to seek an early hearing of the matter.

The Supreme Court, while hearing the case on August 10, did not interfere with the proceedings before the Rajasthan High Court and dismissed the special leave petition (SLP).

However, it allowed the petitioner to request an early hearing of the pending case before the High Court, according to the order.

The apex court, in its order, also said that if the records were not traceable in the High Court registry, the petitioner could approach the registrar general to have the records searched and placed before the High Court.

The case concerns Gyan Chand Agarwal and two other accused, who have approached the Rajasthan High Court seeking quashing of a case against them.

According to the petition filed before the Supreme Court, the records of the quashing petitions were found missing from the Criminal Branch of the Rajasthan High Court Registry on April 10.

Following this, the high court directed the registrar (judicial) to submit a detailed report on the missing records. The apex court petition said the report submitted by the registry was not satisfactory when the matter was considered on April 22.

The case relates to an FIR registered by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in 2023. The accused face allegations including cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

The petition describes Agarwal as a “history-sheeter” and says the Rajasthan Police had verified nearly 298 cases registered against him.

It also refers to an Enforcement Directorate (ED) press release which said that more than 300 FIRs had been registered against Agarwal in Jaipur alone and he had been declared a “history-sheeter” by the Rajasthan Police.

The petitioner alleged that Agarwal did not join the investigation despite an earlier direction of the High Court, while his protection from arrest continued.

The missing case file has come at a time when the functioning of the Rajasthan High Court is under scrutiny following allegations made by a Supreme Court Justice and advocates’ associations. However, the missing records in the Agarwal case, by themselves, do not establish any connection with those allegations.