SC to hear Rahul Gandhi's plea against HC order on assets probe
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday, August 17, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea challenging an Allahabad High Court order that directed the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to verify allegations of disproportionate assets against him.
According to the apex court's cause list for August 17, the matter will come up before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench, expressing dissatisfaction with the CBI's response, had on July 20 directed a senior officer of the agency to personally file a fresh affidavit detailing progress in the probe into disproportionate assets allegations against the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The high court had also observed that if the ED, during its inquiry into the allegations, came across material or documents indicating any illegality, it would be free to proceed further in accordance with law.
The high court was hearing a plea seeking a CBI and ED investigation into the disproportionate assets allegations against the Congress leader. The order came after an in-chamber hearing lasting nearly two hours in the criminal writ petition filed by Karnataka resident S Vignesh Shishir, according to court records.
Vignesh, a BJP worker, had earlier filed separate pleas alleging that Gandhi holds dual citizenship.
The high court had noted that the CBI's affidavit was not in compliance with its earlier order and did not adequately explain the progress made on the complaint filed by the petitioner against Gandhi regarding his assets.
It had directed the joint director or the head of the concerned zone at the CBI's Anti-Corruption headquarters in New Delhi to personally file a fresh affidavit before the next hearing, detailing the progress made.
The bench had treated the matter as part-heard and fixed August 20 as the next date of hearing.
The high court had also granted the Union government four weeks to file detailed counter-affidavits on behalf of the Department of Personnel and Training, the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
It had further directed that the entire case record remains in a sealed cover in the safe custody of the senior registrar, in terms of its earlier orders.
(Inputs from PTI)
