The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to pass orders favouring CBI Director Ranjit Sinha's request to stop the media from reporting on allegations that he frequently met and favoured influential persons associated with the accused in the 2G spectrum and coal scams.
A Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and S.A. Bobde refused to intervene, saying the court has control only over court proceedings and not what happens outside.
“The Press has its freedom. But we also hope the Press is aware of the sensitivity of this matter,” Justice Dattu said, denying senior advocate Vikas Singh, counsel for the CBI chief, a gag order on the media.
The court hearing started with Mr. Singh making a frontal attack on the media, crying foul about how documents meant to remain confidential were splashed on TV channels and front pages of newspapers in the past two days.
On September 2, when advocate Prashant Bhushan first divulged in open court that he had “very disturbing and explosive material” against the CBI chief, the Bench had stopped him from further going into details. The court had asked him to hand over the documents in a sealed cover for its perusal.
On Thursday, Mr. Singh questioned the intentions behind the leak.
“What is the point of the court having documents in sealed covers when they appear in the media. He (Sinha) occupies a very sensitive position handling some of the most important cases in the country. His reputation is at stake now,” Mr. Singh submitted.
Seeking an urgent hearing, Mr. Singh said the CBI chief is now exposed to the “twists and tales” of the media, including that he opposed the CBI hierarchy in the Aircel-Maxis case.
The agency chief further challenged Mr. Bhushan, who represents Centre for Public Interest Litigation, the NGO whose PIL led to the scrapping of 122 2G Spectrum licences, to reveal the source of the documents, which allegedly includes copies of the visitors' logbooks at his residence.
“Please let him reveal how he secured the documents. Has he secured them in a manner known to law?” Mr. Singh submitted.
“The Supreme Court should throw out these patently false accusations like how it did in Amar Singh (phone-tapping) case for the sole reason that the source of documents were not revealed,” he argued.
But the Bench remained unmoved, only asking Mr. Bhushan to hand over his allegations in the form of an affidavit.
Posting the matter on September 8, the court instructed the NGO's lawyer to put the documents back in the sealed cover and not share them with anyone, including the government.
>Earlier report: Visitors logbooks: CBI chief cries foul
