dna's series of investigative reports on former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ranjit Sinha, have won the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for investigating reporting for 2014.

The stories by Raman Kirpal and Hakeem Irfan exposed Sinha’s link with people accused in the 2G and coal scams. The story was based on the visitors' diary at Sinha’s residence, 2 Janpath, which recorded all his meetings with the accused in 2013 and 2014. The award will be presented at a ceremony at ITC Maurya on November 23.

The stories unravelled the nexus between powerful corporate houses, politicians and the country’s top investigating official. The agency chief held unexplained meetings with people whom CBI was probing. They included officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, whose Reliance Telecom is one of the accused in high-profile 2G scam, politicians accused in coal scam, controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi, high-profile lobbyists, bureaucrats and businessmen.

The stories also established how Sinha was trying to influence 2G investigations by trying to incorporate some new details in the trial court. When dna had contacted Sinha for comments, he had threatened the paper of dire consequences. The series of stories exclusively reported by dna were followed up by every media outlet in the country and many foreign publications across all platforms.

On the second day of our reportage, the Supreme Court took cognisance of a PIL in the matter and issued notice to Sinha. He was later removed from 2G investigations on court orders while still in office.

A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu rejected Sinha’s arguments, questioning the authenticity of the visitors’ diary and also recalled its previous order to disclose the identity of the whistle-blowers.

The bench also ordered a further inquiry by a team headed by former CBI special director ML Sharma in May this year to find out how Sinha attempted to scuttle the coal scam probe by meeting several accused. The team is expected to submit its report by mid-December this year.

The apex court made a damning remark that an “elaborate order on the issue would tarnish the image and reputation of the premier investigating agency.” The court also observed that the allegations against Sinha were credible and required to be accepted. This was one of the rare incidents when a serving chief of the premier investigating agency was asked to recuse himself after being exposed through a series of stories.

The Ramnath Goenka Awards are given in 16 categories in journalism alone.

Read some of the articles in the award-winning series here.