A probe committee constituted by the Supreme Court has indicted former CBI Director Ranjit Kumar Sinha for “influencing” the probe into the coal scam against some of the accused he met at his official residence.
The Committee, headed by former CBI Special Director Ml Sharma, had examined the visitor logbook of Sinha’s official residence and compared it with the cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the closure reports submitted during Sinha’s tenure as chief of the premier investigating agency.
Although the Sharma committee report was submitted in a sealed cover to the apex bench of Justices Madan B lokur, Kurian Joseph and AK Sikri, two months ago, contents of the confidential findings were revealed on Tuesday by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who was tasked to examine it and suggest possible course of action.
“The report makes derogatory remarks against Sinha. It says that the meetings he held with the accused were genuine. He suggests that some amount of influence was there by persons named as accused in the coal scam, based on which Sinha prevaricated,” Rohatgi said. However, as a note of caution, he added, “There is no means to verify what is stated is correct.”
The Bench reserved orders on the possible fate that will meet Sinha who had retired from his post in December 2014. Earlier, the Supreme Court directed him to stay away from all investigations in the 2G case following disclosure of his meetings with accused in 2G cases. The date of visits coincided with crucial dates during the trial and investigation of cases linked to the scam.
The apex court wished to know from lawyers appearing in the case whether to make the report public or in the alternate, continue with the probe against Sinha by allowing the Sharma Committee to access even the preliminary enquiries handled by Sinha.
Rohatgi said that the report contains references to persons who are not accused and could be affected if the report is made public. Advocate Prashant Bhushan said a fit case was made out to prosecute Sinha. Sinha’s lawyer doubted the veracity of the log book while CBI counsel urged the court that there was nothing in the investigation to accuse the former CBI Director alone of influencing the probe.