SC dismisses Upendra Rai's plea seeking change of investigating officer

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by accused and arrested journalist, Upendra Rai, seeking to change Rajeshwar Singh as the investigating officer in a corruption case.

Upendra Rai was arrested for his alleged involvement in corruption. Rai, in his petition, claimed that there should be a different team to conduct the investigation against him. The apex court, however, did not find any merit in Rai's petition and dismissed it. A division bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri dismissed Rai's petition.

Rai is being presently investigated for his alleged involvement in corruption in the 2G spectrum scam case. The apex court, while dismissing the petition of Rai, held that the plea is not 'maintainable'.

On August 9, the Special Court took cognisance of prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Rai before the Special Judge (PMLA), Patiala House, New Delhi on August 6 in a money-laundering case for an amount of Rs. 29, 58,09,570.

In this case, Rai had adopted a different modus operandi to launder the ill-gotten money. Rai was allegedly involved in extortion of huge amount of money from different companies and corporate houses. Rai, whose name figures in two FIRs filed by the CBI, was arrested on May 3.