The Supreme Court on Monday expressed strong reservation against allowing certain probe officers to be relieved from the coal block allocation scam cases.
Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said the basic rule is that “when investigation is on, the investigating officers cannot be changed”.
The court had in September also refused to relieve some officers who were seeking repatriation. The officers were deputed to the probe team.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the investigating agencies, said the officers had requested to be relieved on “personal grounds”.
“Difficulty is because they have been on deputation from different States,” Mr. Mehta submitted.
To this, the CJI said deputation to a team investigating an important case is quite natural and part of the official mechanism. “Deputation is not a punishment,” Chief Justice Bobde responded.
