The Supreme Court on Tuesday put a question mark on the continuation of CBI Director Ranjit Sinha in the coalgate probe after allegation that he entertained coal scam accused as guests at his official residence.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice RM lodha directed Sinha to respond within 10 days on an application moved by NGO Common Cause seeking his removal from the ongoing probe and constitution of a SIT to continue with the investigation.
Posting the matter for September 19, the Bench, also comprising Justices Madan lokur and Kurian Joseph, initially passed an order restraining the CBI chief from taking any further decision in the coalgate probe. Already, a separate Bench dealing with the 2G scam probe had drawn adverse inference over same set of allegations against Sinha terming the charge “serious”.
The CJI-headed Bench attached significant weight to the allegations contained in the application presented by advocate Prashant Bhushan. He pointed out that in the past several instances had emerged over CBI Director’s interference in the coal scam probe which led the court to direct CVC to oversee each case where CBI intended to file a closure report.
But when the Court realised that this order related only to preliminary enquiry stage and not regular cases (RC), it was prompted to restrain Sinha from taking any decision with regard to the probe. But CBI special counsel Amarendra Saran who was joined by senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared for Sinha in 2G case, objected to any order being passed without first hearing Sinha.