SC asks ex-CBI Special Director to reconsider demands

The Supreme Court today asked ex- CBI Special Director M L Sharma who has given his consent to assist the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in its probe against Ranjit Sinha, accused of scuttling probes in the coal block scam as the agency's chief, to reconsider his demands on remuneration and infrastructure.
The apex court noted that the issue of remuneration and other expenses, including that on the staff, mentioned by Sharma to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi "prime facie appears to be exaggerated" as he was not aware of the actual scope of the inquiry which the CVC said would be complete within eight weeks.

It said the scope of inquiry was limited to recording the statements of persons accused in the coal allocation scam to draw an inference whether the investigation into the cases were in any way influenced or interfered with as suggested by the CVC.
"If it is so, we request Sharma to reconsider his requirements," a bench headed by Justice M B Lokur said and added that he should consider the suggestion that the inquiry can be done with the assistance of two to three officers and two to three secretarial level staff.
The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and A K Sikri, fixed the time-frame of 8 to 12 weeks for completing the inquiry, and said the renumeration and number of staff, serving or retired, will be settled by the apex court when it hears the matter on September 14.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, Common Cause, which has accused Sinha of scuttling the probe, submitted that it was a serious matter which cannot be investigated by either the CBI or the CVC and should be entrusted to people having experience in investigation like former apex court judge Santosh Hegde or former Uttar Pradesh DGP Parkash Singh.

The apex court has chosen former CBI Special Director M L Sharma who has given his consent to assist the CVC in its probe against Sinha.
The former CBI officer had sought time to select the officers to assist him in the inquiry.

Sharma had on July 6 emerged as the first choice of the Supreme Court to assist the CVC after the anti-corruption watchdog said it did not have its own investigating arm.
The bench had on May 14 admonished Sinha for his "completely inappropriate" meetings with coal scam accused in the absence of investigating officers (IOs) and had said "further inquiry is necessary" to ascertain the fairness and impact of his conduct in the coal scam probe.