The Delhi High Court has refused to quash a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against a man accused of dishonestly inducing the public to give donations to his NGO by using the picture and surname of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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The High Court said the FIR disclosed the commission of cognisable offences, and the police had a statutory right and duty to investigate all aspects of the case.
“The specific allegations have been made that the petitioner is collecting donations/ funds by using the surname of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. The picture of the Hon’ble Prime Minister has also been used whereas admittedly, the petitioner’s surname is not ‘MODI’,” the court had remarked on March 13.
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The Delhi Police submitted that Pawan Pandey had cheated and dishonestly induced the public at large by running an NGO named ‘Modi Charitable Trust’, which in itself reflected the usage of the Prime Minister’s surname.
“The petitioner’s name is ‘Pawan Pandey’ and his surname, that is, ‘Pandey’ is not in any way connected with the surname ‘Modi’ and, therefore, the usage of the surname ‘Modi’ shows mala fide on the part of the petitioner,” the plea said.
An FIR was lodged against Mr. Pandey in September 2023 by the special cell of the Delhi Police for the alleged offences of cheating for personation, and cheating and dishonesty.
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The FIR was lodged on a complaint by the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, alleging that Mr. Pandey was misrepresenting in the name of Mr. Modi.
It was alleged that the man was using the picture of the PM along with his own photo on news channels for advertisement “for deceiving the public at large”.
Mr. Pandey was arrested on February 9 and was granted bail on February 26. He had sought the quashing of the FIR. However, the High Court rejected the plea stating the FIR disclosed the commission of a cognisable offence.