Mumbai/ New Delhi, Jan. 18: Coming down heavily on the CBI for the delay in registering an FIR in the Adarsh society scam, the Bombay High Court has given the agency two weeks to take a decision on the matter. The court has also directed that summons be issued to the regional director of the CBI to be present in the court in two weeks.
On Tuesday, a division bench of Justices B.H. Marlapalle and U.D. Salvi asked the CBI why it had failed to register an FIR in the case despite the fact that the preliminary investigations have been going on for over two months.
In its affidavit submitted to the court, the state home department had stated that the matters pertaining to the case fall within the local domain and the Central government should have little or no concern in the same.
The ASG, Mr Darius Khambata, appearing for the CBI, sought four weeks to finish the investigation, saying, “It is a sensitive case involving big names. The agency does not want to take any hasty decisions.”
The HC, however, refused to grant more than two weeks to the investigating agency to take a decision about filing an FIR and ordered the regional joint director of CBI to appear before the court then.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Governor, Mr K. Sankaranarayanan, on Tuesday made a reference to the SC to conduct an enquiry into the alleged misconduct of the state information commissioner, Mr Ramanand Tiwari.
The state Cabinet had on January 11 requested the Governor to remove Mr Tiwari, from the office for his alleged involvement in the Adarsh society scam. However, he continued to attend his office. He met the Governor on Sunday to explain his side and said he would not quit.
After the MoEF recommended the demolition of the Adarsh building for violating coastal regulations, the defence ministry on Tuesday said it would take a “balanced view” on the issue before arriving at any decision.
“I don’t want to comment on the views of others but I would say that a balanced view would be taken in the ministry. ....I can’t comment on the future of the building but a view will be taken in best interest of everybody,” the minister of state for defence, Mr M.M. Pallam Raju, said in New Delhi.