A Delhi court recently pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a ₹2435 Crores bank fraud case and said that the central agency wants to put a “veil of secrecy” on facts so that the truth never comes out and see the light of the day and remains embedded in the files.
The observations were made by Sanjeev Agarwal, special judge (PC Act) of the Rouse Avenue court in its order of February 10 in which the court added that whatever investigations are done by any investigating agency in any case has to be done in a fair and transparent manner.
“After the investigation is over, the final report is filed in the Court, then the Court has every right to see as to what had transpired from the registration of the FIR / RC till the culmination of the charge sheet / final report including the crime file, which is part of the investigations containing FR-1 and FR-2. Any concealment or non-production of the crime file will only enhance the suspicion that investigating agency has probably something to blot out from the Court....” it added.
The court, on February 3, had asked the CBI to produce all the crime files of a case related to fraud and wrongful loss of public money to the tune of ₹2435 Crores, caused to the State Bank of India, Industrial Finance Branch, Mumbai.
Despite this, the CBI failed to produce the case files.
“Therefore, it appears from afore circumstances that the investigating agency has something material to conceal from the Court, to which they want to put a veil of secrecy, so that truth should never come out and see the light of the day and remains embedded in the files i.e. the crime file,” the court added.
It further observed that in the absence of the said details, the court will be “handicapped” and will not be in a position to form an opinion as to whether further investigations should be done or ordered in the case or not and as to what important aspects may have been missed by CBI.
The Court further said that prima facie, the main and supplementary chargesheet revealed that the investigation was not properly done by the CBI and was conducted in a perfunct and casual manner.
“... prima facie reading of the main charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet, reveals that the investigation has not been done properly but in a perfunct and casual manner and the investigations were also got conducted by an officer of the rank of Sub Inspector, contrary to the Sec. 17 of the PC Act, 1988, which though can be done with the permission of the Court,” it said.
It added that the non-compliance of the afore order is an act of clearcut defiance and recalcitrance on part of the CBI / investigating agency, which kind of conveys in a subtle manner that they do not care or obey the order(s) of the Court, which is a matter of grave concern, same is also contrary to the spirit of Article 21 of The Constitution of India, which ensures fair investigations and consequent fair trial.
The central agency and the bank officials have been asked to submit the said details before the next date of hearing, which is February 21, 2025.
Published - February 12, 2025 09:03 am IST
