The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday gave an undertaking in the Supreme Court that it will not file closure reports in the trial court in cases lodged by it in the coal block allocation scam.
Senior counsel Amarendra Sharan, appearing for the CBI, gave the assurance before a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph. Mr. Sharan told the court that there was no need to pass a formal order as the agency was not going to file closure reports.
When senior counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Common Cause, insisted on a formal order, the CJI said, “It is now understood that they [CBI] will not file the closure reports.”
Mr. Bhushan alleged that though preliminary enquires had been registered, the CBI was not conducting the probe in a fair manner and there were instances when, without seeking the opinion of the Central Vigilance Commission, the agency was filing closure reports.
Mr. Bhushan alleged that senior officers of the CBI had overruled investigating officers who wanted to file regular cases and charge sheets against the accused.
He alleged that the CBI had already closed six of the eight cases involving government officials on the ground that there was no evidence of criminality for filing regular cases and charge sheets.
