Name whistleblower: SC to Bhushan

The Supreme Court on Monday directed an NGO seeking recusal of CBI director Ranjit Sinha from the 2G scam investigation on the basis of a purported visitors’ diary, indicating his frequent meetings with the accused, to reveal the source of the information.

A bench of Chief Justice of India-designate H L Dattu and Justice S A Bobde asked advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, to give in a sealed envelope by Wednesday, only the name of the “whistleblower” who provided him file notings disclosing that the CBI chief allegedly tried to help then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

The notings also revealed that the CBI chief removed DIG Santosh Rastogi from the investigation team.
The court also indicated that it could order further probe if it was satisfied with the bona fide of the person providing information to the NGO’s counsel.

In his plea, Sinha contended that the allegations against him could be the result of corporate rivalry as the charges levelled by Bhushan were already published in a Mumbai-based newspaper before the counsel could raise it in the court on September 2.

The bench said, “In our opinion, it is suffice to say that the affidavit (filed by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation) is not in consonance with the Supreme Court rules. Before we pass any order, we request Bhushan to disclose the source of the information.”