Supreme Court raps CBI over covering up UPA misdeeds
Erosion of Trust
After raps from Supreme Court in coal scam, the CBI and its political bosses stand exposed. The Court on April 30 expressed lack of faith in the agency, saying: “Your action has caused total erosion of trust placed by the court.” The SC was reacting to the CBI’s admission that the Union Law Minister, PMO officials and Coal Ministry made changes to the status report before the CBI submitted it to the apex court in a sealed cover. The opposition also dismissed with disgust the UPA’s whole cover up exercise both inside and outside of Parliament.
The bench, headed by Justice RM Lodha commented: “With all the events happening over the days, a question mark is put on the independent and impartial investigation being conducted by the CBI. Decks have to be cleared before we move forward.” The SC posed six questions to the CBI and asked it to file an affidavit by May 6.
Assured on March 12 by the CBI that its previous status report was not shared with the political executive, the bench, also comprising Justices Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph, asked the CBI why it was “kept in the dark” about this fact when the matter was heard on March 12. “This suppression is not ordinary. If deliberate, for what reason was the decision made not to disclose it to the court,” the SC asked the agency. Directing an affidavit to be filed on this aspect, the bench also wished to know how an “emphatic assertion” was made by CBI counsel Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval on the last hearing that the said report was not shared with anybody. “Does it not show total erosion of trust this court has placed in you,” the bench asked senior advocate UU Lalit, who replaced Raval for the CBI.
The Supreme Court’s observations have made it clear that by ignoring the SC directives on the CBI probe into the coal scam the UPA government played a cruel joke on the judicial system of the country. Lambasting the Centre on the SC observations BJP president Rajnath Singh demanded the resignation of Law Minister Ashwini Kumar. “The government has made large scale changes in the content of the status report filed by the CBI and now it is shying away from owning moral responsibility of its act. The government is trying to cover up its misdeeds by subverting the investigation process and keeping the court in the dark on the whole issue,” he said demanding an apology from Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to the people of India for desecrating the dignity of the country's constitutional institutions. (FOC)
