SC dismisses plea for probe into disappearance of treasure

Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking CBI probe into the alleged disappearance of unaccountable cash to the tune of Rs 300 crore, 300 kgs gold and some other articles from a temple in Guwahati in 2014, citing lack of evidence to substantiate the allegations.
"You are taking us for a ride. This is bogus litigation. Nobody can just come and make allegations about Rs 300 crore, gold and AK-47 without any substance. You show us some material," a bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice N V Ramana said.
It further told the petitioner "You have not placed any substantial material before us. You give us any material on which there can be an investigation...You have come to the court without any material."

The bench told the petitioner's counsel that people have now made a habit of invoking the jurisidiction of apex court.
When the counsel tried to show some photographs, the bench said these were all bogus and were no material to be considered.
"This is total misuse of the jurisdiction of this court. Show us one sentence which points directly to the allegations. This is not done," the bench said, which initially told the petitioner that it will dismiss his plea with an exemplary cost of Rs one lakh.

The court had on May 6 last year issued notices to the Centre and Assam government on a petition filed by a former army personnel Manoj Kumar Kaushal.

The complainant had claimed he had received information in May 2014 that there was unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 300 crore in cash, 300 kg of gold and two AK-47 rifles in a Kali temple in a tea garden near Dispur Airport of Guwahati.
He had also claimed that one Mridul Bhattacharya, the owner of that tea garden, used to collect money from owners of tea gardens and give it to ULFA and alleged that this man was also involved in smuggling of gold from Burma.
However, Bhattacharya and his wife were murdered under suspicious circumstances in 2012, Kaushal had said.

The petitioner had alleged that 13 persons had hatched a conspiracy and taken away the treasure on May 31, 2014, a day before the army was to recover it.