SC ticks off CBI for not questioning Raja

 
A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly during the fag-end of the day-long hearing castigated the country’s premier investigating agency for failing to examine the duo, which was “minimum expected” of it since the criticism had come from the CAG, a Constitutional authority. “You said 8,000 documents had been examined still you are beating around the bush. It was minimum (questioning the duo) expected of the CBI,” the court said.

In its defence, the CBI offered to place a status report on Tuesday before the apex court which would also take on record the CAG report placed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation counsel Prashant Bhushan.

“The CAG reports deserved highest respect. If such an authority set up under the constitution gives such a report any reasonable person will question the minister and the secretary,” the court said. The judges, who on an earlier occasion too had pulled up the CBI for its “slip-shod” investigations, said that “illegality is prima facie evident. This is the reason there is an FIR. We think the gentleman’s (apparent reference to Raja) involvement is replete with details. Has that gentleman been examined?” the Bench asked.

To which, CBI senior counsel Venugopal contended that the agency was examining various documents and assured that none would be spared once their involvement was established. However, the apex court ticked off the probe agency by saying that when even the press have decoded the documents, why has the CBI failed to question those involved in it. 

Slamming the CBI, the court noted that the transfer of the licenses by Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless LTD, alone has deprived the state exchequer of Rs 9,000 crore. “Unitech and Swan Technologies got licenses and transferred it to other entities within a few days for Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. It could have brought upto Rs 9,000 crore (to the government). “The CBI had this information before it. These two instances in the report is self speaking,” it said.