Holding that the final investigation report’s presentation against eight Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers in an FIR unconnected with their selection was “not in accordance with law and is illegal in nature”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside and quashed the charge-sheet with regard to them.Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri ruled that the officers were neither named in the FIR nor investigated, and their names were incorporated after 18 years without any probe.Allowing the petitions, the Bench observed: “It is undisputed that in the FIR registered in 2005, the petitioners were not named as accused, nor did the subject matter of the FIR pertain to the selection of the petitioners. In fact, the FIR pertains to selection for the posts of assistant professors, which is an entirely different selection process. After 18 years, in 2023, the police presented a report under Section 173 CrPC on June 30, 2023, incorporating the names of the petitioners but without conducting any investigation qua them.”The petitioners were among 64 candidates selected on September 4, 2002, for various posts in the Haryana Civil Services and Allied Services conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission. They joined service in 2002 and continued to serve, earning selection grades.But before the selections, a writ petition was filed on July 31, 2002, by then MLA Karan Singh Dalal, challenging the entire selection on allegations of nepotism and irregularities. The writ petition was still pending before a Division Bench, which on December 16, 2010, observed that the allegations “deserve to be inquired into by a person/body not belonging to the region.”The order was challenged before the Supreme Court, which eventually observed “it would be in the interest of the parties that the writ petition be finally disposed of by the High Court at the earliest….”In July 2022, their names were included by the state government in a panel sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for consideration for nomination to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the select list of 2020-21. The meeting of the UPSC was, however, postponed, and they were yet to be considered.Appearing on their behalf, senior advocates Gurminder Singh and PS Ahluwalia, along with Inder Pal Goyat and Keerat Dhillon, contended the petitioners were named in a charge-sheet submitted by the police/vigilance bureau before a court on June 30, 2023, due to “mala fide reasons best known to the respondent-state to jeopardise their consideration for selection to the post of IAS after having been nominated by the state government in the panel sent to the UPSC”.The Bench was told that the FIR dated October 18, 2005, pertained to selections of assistant professors by the Haryana Public Service Commission. The petitioners were not named in the FIR, and the allegations related to a different selection process.After hearing rival contentions, Justice Puri asserted that the facts and circumstances made it clear that they were neither named as accused in the FIR, nor was an investigation conducted.“Therefore, this court is satisfied that the presentation of the report under Section 173 CrPC qua the present petitioners was not in accordance with law and is illegal in nature,” the Bench held.Before parting with the matter, Justice Puri asserted the court was of the considered view that interference was warranted to prevent miscarriage of justice and to secure the ends of justice. “Consequently, all the above petitions are allowed. The charge-sheet dated June 30, 2023, presented under Section 173 CrPC is hereby set aside and quashed qua the petitioners only.”