New Delhi, January 5
The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre, the CBI, all states and union territories on a bunch of petitions seeking transfer of all the cases related to Rs 33,000 crore Telgi fake stamp paper scam for investigation to the CBI to ensure uniformity in the probe.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia issued the notices after Maharashtra and Karnataka governments, which earlier were reluctant for an inquiry by the CBI, submitted that they had no objection if the cases were handed over to the agency as the scam has attained a nation-wide dimension.
Former Attorney-General Ashok Desai, appearing for Maharashtra, and Karnataka’s Advocate-General A.N. Jayaram said the governments of their respective states had reservation earlier regarding probe by any other agency than the state police because much progress had been achieved in the investigation of various cases, registered by the police of the two states.
Karnataka’s counsel also said the reluctance of Maharashtra to hand over main accused Abdul Karim Telgi to the state police for questioning was also a hindrance in its consent for the CBI probe.
Counsel for both states said affidavits on behalf of their governments, giving consent for CBI probe, had already been filed in the Court Registry.
While initial public interest litigation (PIL) for CBI probe was filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal, four other PILs by another advocate Mukesh Manubhai Vashi, the Delhi Study Group, Mr Kuldeep Kumar and Mr Uttam Kale also were considered by the court.
Mr Ajay Agrawal, in his petition, had
sought “uniform” probe in the case, transfer of all petitions regarding the scam from different high courts to the apex court and monitoring of the progress of the investigation by it.UNI adds: In Mumbai Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Ranjeet Singh Sharma, an accused in the scam, today filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging his arrest under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The petition will come up for hearing on January 7 before a division bench.
He was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on December 1, last year, a day after his retirement on charges of omission and commission while investigating the case, when he was the Commissioner of Police in Pune.
