SC declines UP plea to stay CBI probe against former NOIDA official

The Supreme Court on Friday declined the Uttar Pradesh government's ples to stay the CBI probe into allegations of corruption and irregularities against Noida Authority's former chief engineer Yadav Singh, saying that it was for him to challenge the order.

Questioning the reasons for the state government knocking its door, a bench of Chief Justice H.L.Dattu, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Amitava Roy said: "Let that gentleman (Yadav Singh) come here. What has the state government to do in this. If he feels that the high court should not have handed over the probe to CBI, he should have himself come."

Hinting some kind of a design in the handing over of the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh, told the court that "the attempt is to destabilise the entire state government by CBI. It is to paralyse the state government".

Sibal alleged that Yadav Singh was "hand in glove" as he pointed to the turn of the events after the filing of the PIL before the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench, which ordered a probe on July 16.

Telling Sibal that normally the courts are measured in ordering probe by the CBI, the court justified the high court order. "After going through the order of the high court, we feel that it was justified in ordering the probe," by CBI, said Chief Justice Dattu.

Rejecting the state government's plea to stay the CBI probe or replace it by an independent SIT, the court however allowed it to move the high court for seeking monitoring of the probe.

Seeking stay of the CBI probe, the Uttar Pradesh government contended that high court had erroneously directed it to hand over the investigation to the CBI and was "primarily" acting on the central government's request.

The state government also said that the fact that a judicial commission was already conducting enquiry was completely ignored while handing over the probe to the CBI.