Moin Qureshi Moin Qureshi

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday in strong words that an income tax report has disclosed “astonishing state of affairs” between former CBI director A P Singh and meat exporter Moin Qureshi and that Singh’s conduct was “wholly unbecoming of the office he held”.

The report has, however, given a clean chit to present CBI director Ranjit Sinha in this regard.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a bench led by Justice Madan Lokur that the income tax appraisal report, prepared for analysis of a case and to determine the future course of action, unveiled that Singh and Qureshi, who is being probed for tax evasion cases, were in touch with each other “on a daily basis”.

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The conversations, Rohatgi said, were primarily in the form of Blackberry Messenger exchanges and “conclusively” established contact between the two on a regular basis on a variety of subjects, including “protecting some accused in cases”.

Rohatgi informed the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and A K Sikri, that he was “pained” to note that this was the organisation (CBI) that the courts have been trusting the most for a free and fair investigation.

Singh was CBI chief from 2010 to 2012, and was appointed as a UPSC member in 2013 for a five-year term. The India Express had in May this year reported about the contentious exchange of messages between Qureshi and Singh found by tax investigators. Qureshi is being probed for evasion of taxes to the tune of Rs 157 crore.

LINK to the Indian Express report on contentious exchange of messages between Moin Qureshi and A P Singh found by tax investigators

The appraisal report was summoned to the court on a plea by NGO Common Cause, which sought removal of current CBI director Sinha from the probe, accusing him of acting in collusion with Qureshi to shield coal block case accused from prosecution. The lengthy tax report has, however, clarified that there was nothing to implicate current CBI director Sinha, who was alleged to be using Qureshi as a conduit to protect those accused in the coal block cases. The basis of this application lay in the controversial list of visitors to Sinha’s New Delhi residence, where Qureshi was shown to be a frequent visitor, besides several other coal and 2G scam accused.

Rohatgi clarified that there was not even a single conversation between Qureshi and Sinha and the latter’s name always came up as a reference to something else or as a hearsay. The AG, referring to the Niira Radia tape case, added that while Income Tax could take action as far as taxation issues were concerned, the government would have to take a call on other aspects arising out of the tapped conversation.

After the AG made the government’s position clear regarding Sinha, CBI director’s counsel Vikas Singh said that he would press for perjury charges against the Common Cause. The bench, however, adjourned the matter for four weeks after Rohatgi adduced all the four volumes and requested the bench to duly peruse the appraisal report before passing an order on the NGO’s application.

On September 19, the SC had restrained the CBI from filing any chargesheet or closure report in the coal block allocation cases in the wake of the controversy kicked up by the visitors’ logbook at Sinha’s residence. The order was passed after the NGO had pressed its application.

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