NEW DELHI: After seeking CBI director Ranjit Sinha’s explanation on Monday over “undesired” visitors to his residence relating to 2G spectrum scam case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked him to respond in 10 days to identical allegations concerning the coal block allocation scam.
A bench of Chief Justice R M Lodha and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph was surprised by the tenor and gravity of the allegations relating to the coal scam cases, which were investigated by a team of CBI officers chosen by the bench.
The court is also monitoring the probe and had insulated the cases from any arbitrary decision either by the CBI director or investigating officers by asking the agency to seek opinion of two vigilance commissioners in the Central Vigilance Commission if they intended not to register an FIR after preliminary enquiry (PE).
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But the bench realized on Tuesday that it had not passed any order relating to closure of regular cases (RCs) in coal scam cases.
If a bench headed by Justice H L Dattu on Monday expressed concern about the “fairness of trial in 2G scam cases” in the wake of revelations that persons related to the accused visited the CBI director, the CJI-headed bench on Tuesday said, “Our concerns are about the investigation.”
It said notice should go to the CBI director asking him to respond to the application filed by ‘Common Cause’ on the visitors’ diary. However, there were loud protests from CBI special counsel Amarendra Saran and Sinha’s counsel Vikas Singh when the bench proposed to restrain the CBI director from taking any decision in coal scam cases till September 19, the next date of hearing.
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Both said that wild allegations were being made by the applicant’s counsel Prashant Bhushan to tarnish the image of the CBI director in public and to show the premier investigating agency in bad light.
Bhushan said, “The visitors’ entry register revelations were of two kinds. While one related to the 2G scam, the other pertained to coal scam cases. It raises serious doubts about the suitability of the director to continue dealing with these two categories of cases, which were investigated under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court. The CBI director has been meeting the coalgate accused repeatedly at his residence. The court should direct him to recuse from supervising the coal scam investigations. It is a serious matter.”
He said the CBI director had been giving contradictory statements to media on the visitors’ register. “First, he said these allegations were false and there was no such register. Then he says he had to meet the accused to find out whether they had any complaint against the investigating officers. He also says that it was his private affair to meet whom he liked. Finally he says if one has to catch a thief, he has to meet a thief,” Bhushan said.
Referring to the notice issued to the CBI chief by a bench headed by Justice Dattu on Monday on the visitors’ register relating to 2G scam cases, Saran asked the court, “How can the applicant multiply the proceedings on the same event?”
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Common Cause has sought setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe Sinha’s alleged role in scuttling the coal scam probe. Bhushan had on Monday submitted original visitors’ entry register at the CBI director’s residence to the apex court, which kept it in sealed cover under safe custody.
“It is of particular significance that Ranjit Sinha had several meetings with Vijay Darda, and his son Devendra Darda, who are being investigated in the case of illegal allocation of coal blocks. Sinha also met Subodh Kant Sahay, former Union minister, whose brother’s company is one of the beneficiaries of the allocation of coal blocks and is being investigated by the CBI,” Common Cause had said.
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