Supreme Court seeks ideas to end ED-CBI-opposition conflicts

Supreme Court seeks ideas to end ED-CBI-opposition conflicts

NEW DELHI: With rising instances of confrontation between ED & CBI and opposition-run state governments that have resulted in important cases getting stuck, Supreme Court on Thursday said a mechanism was needed to ensure that a fair and transparent probe was not thwarted and, also, to eliminate any malafide or political vendetta in the probe.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan said the issue was very important and it would frame guidelines if governments did not come up with suggestions to deal with it. The court was hearing a petition filed by ED seeking transfer of probe from Tamil Nadu police to CBI against one its officers who was caught in a case of alleged bribery in the state. The issue assumes significance in light of recent attacks on CBI and ED officials in West Bengal and state governments not cooperating with probes by central agencies.

Appearing for ED, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said he was not supporting the officer, who should not be protected, but the probe should be handed over to the central agency. He said state officials had raided ED offices in Tamil Nadu under the guise of a probe in the bribery case and taken away crucial documents pertaining to other cases involving state ministers. Mehta said the state was trying to protect its ministers and hindering the ED probe.

His plea was objected to by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Amit Anand Tiwari, who alleged that the agency was carrying out its probe in a biased manner and accused it of selective targeting. Sibal said that the federal structure of the country was being jeopardised.

Emphasising that differences between the Centre and states should not result in injustice, the bench said, “There may be genuine cases where ED may have to go in. There has to be a mechanism… something has to be evolved so that offenders in genuine cases don’t go scot-free merely because it is being handled by the central agency, and at the same time, ensure there is no mala fide witch-hunting.”

The court, after hearing both sides, issued notice on ED’s plea and stayed the bribery probe against Ankit Tiwary. It also said it would adjudicate on the larger issue of putting in place a mechanism to prevent clashes between the Centre and states.

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