Tainted pumps: SC to order a probe

Applying judicial activism to the petrol pump scam, the Supreme Court today said that it will set up a committee to inquire into the 417 pol...

Applying judicial activism to the petrol pump scam, the Supreme Court today said that it will set up a committee to inquire into the 417 politically connected allotments brought to light by The Indian Express.

A bench comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice H K Sema also indicated that it will set aside the controversial decision taken by the Government on August 6 in the wake of the Express expose to cancel all the 3,800 allotments made since January 2000.

Concluding the hearing in the case, the bench said that it would try to pass an order by December 20 so that the proposed committee can begin its inquiry during the winter vacation and submit its report within three months.

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Solicitor General Kirit Raval responded by suggesting that the court may refer the matter to the Central Vigilance Commission instead of appointing an ad hoc committee. Raval said the CVC would be a better option because it has a proper machinery and expertise in vigilance cases.

Expressing its willingness to consider Raval’s suggestion, the bench asked the Government to submit by tomorrow details of all the 417 instances reported in The Indian Express of allotments made to persons connected with political parties, especially the BJP.

The object of the inquiry, the bench explained, is to ensure that tainted allottees don’t benefit when the court sets aside the omnibus cancellation order of August 6. But since a political connection cannot per se be a ground for rejecting an application, the inquiry is meant to see whether the allotments made in such cases were based on merit or not.

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While affirming that it will not ‘‘come in the way’’ of the inquiry, the Government said that nothing may come out of it because the records of all the 59 dealer selection boards headed by retired judges were in order.

Interestingly, Raval also produced an article by the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta, to point out that the allottees having political connection may be more than the 417 unearthed by the newspaper. Raval read out the portion where Gupta admitted a limitation in the newspaper’s investigation: ‘‘But it is likely that we will still miss out on many others. Because it is difficult to believe how too many people could have succeeded in a scandalous mess like this only on merit.’’

Justice Sabharwal said that if the inquiry reveals irregularities in a substantial number of the 417 allotments, then the court will extend the probe to the remaining cases as well.