The Supreme Court on Monday said it may rectify if at all a “mistake” has been made in requesting advocate Prashant Bhushan to reveal the identity of the whistleblower who secretly passed on the guest list at CBI Director Ranjit Sinha’s residence. The visitors’ logbook allegedly shows that the CBI chief met influential persons who are accused in the multi-crore 2G scam at his official residence even as the investigations were on.
On September 15, the Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and S.A. Bobde requested Mr. Bhushan, acting on behalf of NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, to confidentially disclose the name of the whistleblower.
Three days later, the NGO refused to reveal the source, saying the disclosure would amount to not only breach of trust but also put the person’s life in danger.
On Monday, the NGO, while giving an unconditional apology for its refusal, asked the Supreme Court to recall its September 15 order. The Bench said: “We can correct our mistake if it is a mistake so that it doesn’t affect pending and future cases,” but made it clear that it was not conceding anything in favour of the NGO. The Bench even expressed doubts about recalling its Sept.15 order. It further sought the assistance of the Special Public Prosecutor, in charge of the 2G scam criminal trials, to brief them on how a recall of its order and subsequent entertainment of the allegations against the CBI chief would affect pending and future criminal cases in the scam. “Before we recall that order [September 15], we need to hear Anand Grover (Special Public Prosecutor). Such an order may affect cases already pending and future cases [in the scam],” Justice Dattu said.
