Coal scam: SC orders probe against ex-CBI boss Ranjit Sinha

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court ordered a probe on Monday into allegations that former CBI director Ranjit Sinha tried to scuttle investigations into the coal scam and protect some of the accused, saying it was prima facie satisfied that he had abused his position and authority. Abench of Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A KSikri directed CBI chief Alok Verma to set up a three-member special investigation team to investigate Sinha.It will be the first time a formmer head of CBI will be the subject of a probe by the agency he headed — a development that renders Sinha’s two-year tenure a sad chapter the agency will be keen to forget. Sinha had faced the ignominy of being restrained from handling the 2G and coal scam cases. It was also on his watch that CBI drew the “caged parrot” jibe from the top court.The alleged irregularities in the Coalgate probe came to light when a visitors’ diary revealed that Sinha had “privately” met some of the highprofile accused at his official residence several times.The visitors’ diary was placed before the court by activist-advocate Prashant Bhushan who sought an SIT probe against him. While hearing Bhushan’s plea, the court had held that there could not be any justification for Sinha’s secret meetings with various accused. It appointed a committee headed by former CBI special director M L Sharma to hold a preliminary inquiry into the allegations.“The fact that Sinha met some of the accused persons without the investigating officer or the investigating team being present disturbs us with regard to the fairness of the investigations,” the court had said, basing its order on Sharma’s findings that the entries in the visitors’ log book at Sinha’s residence were genuine. The agency, however, was spared the humiliation of seeing its former chief being investigated by an outside agency. “We have considered the issue whether an outside body of investigators should be appointed as SIT. However, in our considered opinion, since there has been a change of guard in the CBI, we would continue to repose our faith in the impartiality of the CBI to look into the report prepared by M L Sharma and other relevant documents and conduct an investigation into the abuse of authority prima facie committed by Ranjit Sinha with a view to scuttle enquiries, investigations and prosecutions being carried out by CBI in coal block allocation cases,” the bench said, leading many to wonder if the bench was unhappy about the response of the CBI leadership so far.The court turned down the plea for an independent SIT, expressing the hope that CBI would conduct a fair and impartial probe against its former boss. On April 7, 2016, the SC-appointed panel had told the court that there was enough evidence to show that Sinha “interfered” with investigations in key coal scam cases. The SIT’s findings were based on an analysis of the chargesheets filed by CBI in coal scam cases during Sinha’s tenure as director. Sharma, in his report, said the visitors’ logbook, kept at Sinha’s official residence, was genuine. Taking into account the committee’s findings, the court said further probe was required to find out whether the investigations in the coal scam were compromised. It said that two officers of SIT would be nominated by the CBI chief with due intimation to this court and asked the director to tell the court about the composition of the team and the time required to complete the investigations.“The CBI director will also take the chief vigilance commissioner into confidence in respect of the investigations. Since the director will undoubtedly require the assistance of somebody well conversant with the law, we request R S Cheema who is already a special public prosecutor in the coal block allocation cases to assist the director and his team on legal issues,” the court said.Sinha has accepted that he met some of the accused but justified his meetings on the ground that they were meant to understand their point of view on the pending probe and were part of his job. SC, however, had rejected his plea questioning why he had met the accused in the absence of CBI’s investigating officer. “There cannot at all be any justification for him to meet any accused person in a criminal case where investigation is under way, without the investigating officer being present, whether it is in his office or as alleged at his residence and that too, allegedly, several times including late at night.If at all, Sinha, as director of CBI, had to meet any accused person for obtaining his point of view on the allegations against him, he should have done so in the presence of the investigating officer or the investigating team,” the court had said. “What is of importance is that as justice must not only be done but it must also appear to have been done, similarly, investigations must not only be fair but must appear to have been conducted in a fair manner,” the bench had said.