By staying the Gauhati High Court order that declared the Central Bureau of Investigation “unconstitutional,” the Supreme Court has restored more than 9,000 criminal trials pending in CBI courts nationwide.
Through its order on Saturday, a Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Ranjana Desai has also empowered the CBI to proceed with its investigation in the coal scam and 1,000 other cases.
The CBI has a staff of 6,000 persons, and the High Court’s ruling called their continuance in the agency into question.
In its special leave petition, the Centre said the judgment mainly raised two contentions: the April 1, 1963 resolution the Government of India issued to create the CBI was not under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act and that it did not get the President’s assent.
“The impugned judgment…is ex facie erroneous, contrary to the express provisions of the Constitution and the DSPE Act, 1946, and flies in the face of several judgments of this court which had upheld the constitutional validity of the DSPE Act,” the SLP said.
The Centre pointed out that the formation of the CBI was earlier challenged in the Rajasthan High Court in 1985 but the petition was rejected.
