Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the CBI’s response in a petition seeking a CBI and ED probe into allegations of disproportionate assets against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.A bench of Justices RS Chauhan and BR Singh observed that the affidavit filed by the CBI did not comply with its earlier directions and failed to clearly explain the progress made on the complaint submitted by the petitioner.The court directed the joint director or the head of the concerned zone at the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Headquarters (ACHQ), New Delhi, to personally file a fresh affidavit before the next hearing.The order was passed following an in-chamber hearing of nearly two hours on Monday in a criminal writ petition filed by Karnataka resident S Vignesh Shishir. The matter has been listed for further hearing on Aug 20.During the proceedings, both the CBI and the ED submitted their counter affidavits. After examining the CBI’s affidavit, the bench said it was unable to ascertain the progress of the inquiry conducted by the agency.“We are unable to understand the progress of the investigation done by the CBI. Therefore, on the next date, the counter affidavit of CBI shall be filed in terms of the earlier order and the deponent of that counter affidavit would be the Joint Director/head of zone, ACHQ Zone, CBI, New Delhi. In such counter affidavit, the further progress, if any, may be indicated categorically,” the court observed.Regarding the ED, the bench noted that the agency had taken the necessary preliminary steps. It said that if, during the course of its inquiry, the ED came across any material or documents indicating illegality, it would be free to take further action in accordance with law.The court also granted four weeks to Union govt to file detailed counter affidavits on behalf of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Department of Revenue, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).The bench further said that two interim applications recently moved by the petitioner would be considered at the next hearing. It also directed that the entire case record remain in a sealed cover in the custody of the senior registrar.Given the sensitivity of the matter, the bench has not been holding open-court hearings. Monday’s proceedings were conducted in chambers, and the order was uploaded on the high court website on Tuesday.
