Former CBI Director Ranjit Sinha’s retirement did not come in the way of a demand to constitute a SIT to probe his alleged favours made to accused in the coal scam cases.
On Monday, the special Bench of the Supreme Court hearing the coal scam cases agreed to hear on February 16 an application filed by NGO petitioner Common Cause seeking SIT probe against Sinha.
Though the CBI under its new boss Anil Kumar Sinha felt the prayer was redundant after former Director’s retirement, advocate Prashant Bhushan who argued the application highlighted how the agency under its former chief reversed findings in crucial cases involving big names who were sought to be charge-sheeted by officers in the CBI beginning from investigating officer to the prosecution wing.
The application dealt with a specific case involving Congress MP Vijay Darda who was found to be guilty by all CBI sleuths dealing with a coal block allocation concerning him. But Sinha overruled them all. Incidentally, the decision coincided with several visits by Darda to the then CBI Director’s residence, later substantiated by entries made in a visitor logbook maintained at Director’s residence, a copy of which Bhushan had produced earlier in Court.
CBI special counsel Amarendra Saran sought time to file response although he informed Court that Darda stood charge-sheeted. Bhushan suggested that an SIT was needed to unearth other instances involving possible fraud or favour. For Sinha, senior lawyer Vikas Singh argued that the allegations in the application were false. In this regard, perjury applications were pending against Bhushan and the NGO in the Court. The bench listed those applications too for the next date.
Meanwhile, CBI informed the Supreme Court that Gujarat government and its Chief Secretary had refused to cooperate in the coal scam probe despite an order from the Court passed two months ago. The bench took serious exception to the state’s conduct and sought its response by February 9. Two companies based in the state were found involved in the probe but the state, despite several reminders, had refused to hand over to CBI documents relating to the allotment.