With 19 years gone by and the investigation yet to complete into the larger conspiracy leading to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to suggest a time frame by which it intends to wind up the probe.
Hearing a petition filed by one of the convicts, AG Perarivalan, suffering life imprisonment for the charge of criminal conspiracy and murder of the former PM, the Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha directed the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency under CBI to submit a status report indicating a timeframe for completing probe, the possible hurdles in completion and steps being taken to overcome the hurdles.
The investigating agency filed an affidavit in Court suggesting that the MDMA is proceeding with the probe which involves extradition of several persons named in the Jain Commission of Inquiry. "The process of extradition cannot be time-bound," said Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh but the bench wished to know what steps were initiated in this regard.
Even without the petitioner being in the picture, the bench said that the MDMA is investigating the larger conspiracy. "Is the stand of the Government as on today that investigation into these aspects can go on," the Bench asked, to which ASG Singh replied in the positive.
The petitioner sought advantage of the MDMA probe suggesting that any outcome in this regard had bearing on his case. The Bench will hear the case next on August 16.