The Supreme Court removed Ranjit Sinha Thursday from the 2G scam probe, putting a question mark on the credibility of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director who is alleged to have met people accused of corruption in the high-profile case.
The court said allegations against Sinha of protecting some of the accused appeared to be ‘prima facie credible’, spelling embarrassment for the CBI director just twelve days before his retirement.
Handing over the 2G case to the senior-most officer after Sinha in the investigating team, the court also recalled its September 15 order directing NGO CPIL to reveal the identity of the whistleblower who gave information on Sinha’s alleged interference in the case.
“We will abide by Supreme Court order,” Sinha said, even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded his immediate sacking from the CBI chief post and said he was “unfit” to head the country’s premier investigative agency.
The party accused Sinha of maligning his own colleague after he named his subordinate as a “mole” who provided documents and file notings to AAP leader and advocate Prashant Bhushan.
The alleged interference of Sinha in the high-profile 2G case has triggered a storm of late, with lawyer-activist Bhushan requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove the CBI chief.
According to Bhushan, Sinha had acted in “concert” with the accused to influence or derail the investigation and prosecution of the 2G and coal block cases.
Sinha is also under fire from two NGOs — CPIL and Common Cause — for allegedly holding private meetings at his residence with those facing CBI probes in the cases.
CPIL is a petitioner before the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum case, while Common Cause had petitioned the top court in the coal scam case. Both probes are court-monitored.
A bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu, however, refused to pass an elaborate order Thursday on the issue, saying it would “tarnish” the “image and reputation” of the premier investigating agency.
The fate of Sinha, who is due to retire on December 2, became clear when the bench, also comprising Justice MB Lokur and Justice AK Sikri, asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Sinha, about various options.
The court said it did not want to pass an elaborate order, because it would be against the interest and image of the agency.
“Prima facie the allegations made in the application (by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation) are credible and required to be accepted,” the bench observed.
However, his counsel insisted that the allegations levelled against Sinha of scuttling the 2G probe were “untrue”.
A former telecoms minister and a slew of corporate and government officials have been charged over the 2G scam, one of a string of corruption cases that rocked the previous central government.
The scam centred on the 2007-2008 sale of 2G mobile phone licences at cut-rate prices to favour some firms that the national auditor said cost the treasury billions of dollars in lost revenues.
The CBI took up the investigation again in 2013 after tapped phone calls came to light between a former corporate lobbyist, business executives and government bureaucrats over the sale.
The petition involving Sinha has heard that a whistleblower unearthed documents and a visitor’s diary of Sinha’s residence that allegedly showed the names of those who had visited him.
