Supreme Court stays Gauhati HC order on CBI, next hearing on Dec.6

The Supreme Court on Saturday stayed the Gauhati High Court's ruling which called the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) unconstitutional, and fixed December 6 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

"The judgement of the Division bench of the Gauhati High Court had effectively held that the CBI had no legal status. As a result of which not less than 9,000 cases would have been affected. There are 1,000 investigations that are going on. There are 6,000 people working with the CBI, and several people were trying to take advantage of pending trials," Attorney General GE Vahanvati told media here today.

"Therefore, it was extremely necessary for us that we move as fast as possible. We got the judgement yesterday, we worked on it overnight, we filed the SLP this morning, and the Chief Justice gave us an early hearing today at his residence," he added.

Earlier in the day, the Central Government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Gauhati High Court ruling, which called CBI unconstitutional.

Law and Justice Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said that the Central government would file an appeal against Gauhati High Court order.

"The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) intends to file an appeal. An appeal will be filed against the order (in the Supreme Court)," Sibal told media here.

In its judgment, the High Court has struck down the resolution through which the CBI was set up and held all its actions as unconstitutional.

A division bench comprising Justice Iqbal Ahamad Ansari and Indira Shah on Wednesday pronounced the verdict while hearing a plea filed by a BSNL employee.

The petitioner questioned the existence of the CBI after the investigation agency filed a case against him in 2001. He approached the division bench after a Single Bench of the court rejected his plea.