Centre mulling options of asking Ranjit Sinha to go on leave, or sacking him for ‘misbehaviour’
Troubles seem to mount for the beleaguered CBI Director Ranjit Sinha. On a day the Supreme Court discarded his plea to restrain the media from publishing the content of the entry register containing names of the accused in the coal and 2G scam who visited him at his residence, there were indications that the Centre was mulling various options to decide on his continuation on the sensitive post.
According to top Government sources, the ultimate call on Sinha’s fate will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is learned to have sought a report on the controversy surrounding Sinha’s meeting with various people linked to the two scams.
Sources said the Prime Minister’s (PM) Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra has been asked to look into various legal options in tune with the provisions of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, which deals with the administration of the CBI and its chief. According to sources, apart from asking Sinha to go on leave, the Government is exploring if he can be removed by seeking a report from the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.
Government sources explained that the CBI Director can be removed for “misbehavior or incapacity” through an order from the President on the basis of a report from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
Sinha’s two-year tenure as CBI chief ends on November 30. The provisions of the CVC Act also deal with curtailment of the CBI Director’s tenure on the charges related to “misbehavior and incapacity”.
Though the Government remained tight-lipped on the controversy, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu told the media that though the matter was before the Supreme Court, the Government was sensitive about the image of the CBI. “We are all for improving the image of the CBI,” Naidu said, without elaborating further.
Sinha’s attempt to restrain the Press from publishing the contents of the entry register was thwarted by the court as it brushed aside the Director’s claims that selective leaks of the entry register maintained at his official residence amounted to invasion of his privacy and an assault on his reputation.
“We know the Press will be responsible in a sensitive matter of this nature,” said a Bench of Justices Hl Dattu and SA Bobde while dismissing his claim to ban the media from further publishing contents of the register.
Earlier, advocate Prashant Bhushan had supplied a copy of the register to the court in a sealed cover indicating that the fresh disclosure suggested the CBI Director’s complicity with the scam accused. Having gone through it, the Bench asked Bhushan to place it on the records of the court along with an affidavit to vouch for its contents.
“We cannot make it part of our documents unless it is by way of an affidavit,” the Bench said. Once this is done, it may facilitate the court to pass orders in this regard.
later in the day, Bhushan filed the same in the Court Registry supporting it with a fresh application to remove the CBI Director from the 2G probe.
The CBI Director’s lawyer Vikas Singh suggested that it was possible that Bhushan was behind the leaks and attacked him for making allegations aimed at “harming” the reputation of a public functionary handling probes into sensitive cases.
“The very purpose behind placing it in a sealed cover was to protect my reputation. Still it is everywhere in the media. It only suggests that these proceedings are being taken in a very trivial manner,” Vikas Singh said.
“We don’t know how it went into public domain,” the Bench said, adding that it instructed the Court Registry to seal the document. Singh asked Bhushan to disclose the source of the information and sought the basis for making serious allegations against his client. In the fresh application, Bhushan has mentioned that he received the documents from a “trusted whistleblower”.
The court pacified Singh that the stage had not arrived as it was not aware of what application Bhushan would file. “In case we have to say something on the application, we will seek your response.” A copy of the sealed cover containing the affidavit and fresh application by Bhushan was directed to be supplied to CBI counsel KK Venugopal and Singh before Monday, when the court will take up the matter next.
On the next day the court also decided to take up the case relating to the Enforcement Directorate Deputy Director Rajeshwar Singh, who has been put out of the 2G investigation team despite a clear order from the court to reinstate him back in the team. The court asked the Centre to seek instructions on why the order was not implemented till date.