SC asks former CBI officer to assist CVC

Former CBI Special Director Ml Sharma is tipped to head the probe against ex-CBI chief Ranjit Sinha’s close-door meetings with the accused in the 2G and coal scam. On Monday, the Supreme Court, monitoring the coal scam, suggested Sharma’s name as its choice to examine whether the secret meetings Sinha held with the accused at his residence impacted course of investigation or fate of pending trials.

The position would get clear by next Monday as the bench asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to enquire from Sharma whether he was willing to take up the task. The 1972 batch IPS officer enjoys good reputation, a fact testified both by the judges and AG, who volunteered on his own to contact Sharma.

With the Sinha controversy raising doubts about the decisions taken under him as Director, the bench had sought opinion of the Central Vigilance Commission to indicate the way ahead. For the CVC, Rohatgi submitted that the CVC on its own was incapable of conducting investigation. However, it could appoint an investigating officer from the Enforcement Directorate or the CBI who will be assisted by a team of capable officers and submit a report within three months.

The Court proposed having a former CBI Director or such officer who commanded unimpeachable integrity. Advocate Prashant Bhushan who represented the petitioner NGO Common Cause suggested former Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hedge and former DGP Prakash Singh as suitable candidates but the bench of Justices Madan B lokur, Kurian Joseph and AK Sikri put forth Sharma’s name as he combined “outstanding integrity” and experience of having worked over 22 years in the CBI.

The AG suggested that once Sharma consents, he can be given freedom to form his own team of officers drawing either from retired staff or serving officers of the CBI. Rohatgi offered to bring details of the handpicked officers in the event Sharma agreed to undertake the assignment.

Sharma, who missed becoming the CBI Director in 2008 and took an early retirement, has an uphill task to identify the nexus between Sinha’s backdoor meetings and its effect, if any on the ongoing 2G and coal scam cases. The Court had indicted Sinha for holding such meetings and had abruptly removed him from the 2G investigations.