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Journalism of Courage
A day after the NDA government decided to hand over the fake stamp paper probe to the CBI, the Congress-led Democratic Front Government stood its ground, saying it would amount to contempt of court. Any decision at this juncture should be taken by the Bombay High Court, CM Sushilkumar Shinde said.
‘‘As the Centre has decided to hand over the probe to the CBI, the state government has no objection to this move but the matter is sub-judice and therefore the ultimate decision has to be taken by the high court,’’ Shinde told reporters before leaving on his election tour of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. ‘‘We will make our stand clear before the high court on November 27 when the matter comes up for hearing.’’
Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati and Additional Chief Secretary U.K. Mukhopadhyaya said since the high court was ‘‘seized of the entire case’’, it would amount to contempt of court if the state government entrusted the probe to the CBI.
Vahanvati said the question of handover had come up before the Bombay High Court on August 27, when the court took up a PIL filed by Anna Hazare. Additional Solicitor General S.B. Jaisinghani had, on behalf of the CBI, told the court that the agency was not in a position to take over investigations.
In view of the CBI’s stand, a proposal was moved for strengthening the Special Investigation Team set up by the state government to probe into the scandal, he said.
Shinde’s deputy Chhagan Bhujbal echoed the government’s stand but said he had not received any communication from the Centre on its decision to hand over the probe to the CBI.
‘‘I have not received any letter from the Centre so far or if they had forwarded such a letter, it has not reached me,’’ Bhujbal told reporters here. ‘‘We have no objection in handing over the case to CBI but as the matter was sub-judice, this factor should be taken into consideration by the Centre. They should take permission from the court for transferring the case to the CBI.’’
Earlier, Maharashtra Governor Mohammed Fazal had informed the Centre that he was in favour of a CBI probe.
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Cong open to any probe
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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
At the BJP’s daily briefing, its spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, quoting newspaper reports, had said that Sonia, Krishna and Azad allegedly had links with scamster Abdul Karim Telgi. ‘‘Such statements are indicative of a sick mentality. It is incorrect and mischievous. We condemn it,’’ Congress spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters here. Answering queries as to why the Congress governments have not handed over the investigation to the CBI, Sharma said: ‘‘Both Karnataka and Maharashtra chief ministers have agreed to a CBI inquiry. We now leave the decision to the Centre and we are with it on whatever it decides.’’ ‘‘As mentioned in the court order in August, the CBI itself had declined to take up the probe. The Centre can’t say two different things. They must first make up their mind,’’ he added. Story continues below this ad Warning the BJP against making ‘‘baseless allegations’’, Sharma said: ‘‘The BJP must remember that this scam has been going on since 1994 when the Congress was not in power in both states.’’ ‘‘This scam should not be made into a political football and the state governments and the Centre must together get to the bottom of it all,’’ he added. |
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