New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday nudged the government to probe “serious charges” against Enforcement Directorate officer Rajeshwar Singh, who was investigating the Aircel-Maxis case.
The bench headed by Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjay K Kaul quoted a government affidavit that it does not want to protect the guilty, no matter how high up in the system they might be.
"It will be the government's call whether Rajeshwar Singh will have any role to play in further probe in Aircel Maxis case," said SC.
The top court also modified its interim order granting protection to Rajeshwar Singh against inquiry.
The Centre also said that it would take the Aircel-Maxis probe to its logical conclusion.
Earlier, in the day the SC said "no officer should be under any cloud".
A vacation bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and S K Kaul said that allegations levelled against senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) official Rajeshwar Singh were serious and required to be looked into.
Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee, appearing for the Centre, told the court that the government was willing to investigate the allegations that Singh amassed disproportionate assets and handed over a communication in a sealed cover to the bench.
"You are simply an officer. You can't be given a blanket clean chit. Everybody is accountable. You must be accountable for any action. We need to ensure that you are accountable. We don't want to damage you or comment against you. There are very serious allegations against you," the bench told the officer.
Rajneesh Kapur, who claims to be an investigative journalist, has filed a petition in the apex court seeking investigation against Singh for allegedly amassing assets which are disproportionate to his known source of income.
Singh has also filed a separate contempt plea against Kapur and has claimed that attempts have been made to scuttle or delay the ongoing probe in the Aircel Maxis case.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has also moved the top court seeking its permission to implead himself as a party in the plea filed by Kapur.
The apex court had on March 12 set a deadline of six months for the CBI and the ED to complete the investigation into the alleged irregularities in FIPB approval given in the Aircel-Maxis deal case in which former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti have been questioned by probe agencies.
(With PTI inputs)
Comments
0 comment