Allahabad HC says ED free to act if illegality found during probe into Rahul Gandhi's assets

Lucknow, Expressing dissatisfaction with the CBI's response, the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench has directed the agency's senior officer to personally file a fresh affidavit detailing the progress made in the probe into allegations of disproportionate assets against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

A bench of Justices R S Chauhan and B R Singh also observed that if, during the course of its inquiry into the allegations, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) comes across material and documents indicating any illegality, it would be free to proceed further in accordance with law.

The court was hearing a plea that sought an investigation by the CBI and the ED into allegations of disproportionate assets against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.


The order, which was posted on the High Court's website on Tuesday, was passed after an in-chamber hearing lasting nearly two hours on Monday in the criminal writ petition filed by Karnataka resident S. Vignesh Shishir.

Vignesh, a BJP worker, had earlier filed pleas alleging that the Congress leader holds dual citizenship.

The court noted that the affidavit filed by the CBI was not in compliance with its earlier order and did not adequately explain the progress made on the complaint submitted by the petitioner against Gandhi related to his assets.

The court directed the Joint Director or the Head of the concerned Zone at the CBI's Anti-Corruption Headquarters in New Delhi to personally file a fresh affidavit before the next hearing, detailing the progress made in the matter.

The bench treated the matter as part-heard and fixed August 20 as the next date of hearing.

During the hearing, both the CBI and the ED filed their counter affidavits.

After examining the CBI's affidavit, the judges observed, "We are unable to understand the progress of the investigation done by the CBI."

"Therefore, on the next date, the counter affidavit of CBI shall be filed in terms of earlier order and the deponent of that counter affidavit would be Joint Director/Head of Zone, ACHQ Zone, CBI, New Delhi.

"In the counter affidavit, the further progress, if any, may be indicated categorically so that the court could understand about the progress of the investigation."

On the ED, the bench noted that the agency had taken the necessary preliminary steps.

It observed that if, during the course of its inquiry, the ED comes across material and documents indicating any illegality, it would be free to proceed further in accordance with law.

The court also granted four weeks' time to the Union government to file detailed counter affidavits on behalf of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

The bench further said that two interim applications recently filed by the petitioner would be considered at the next hearing.

It also directed that the entire case record continue to remain in a sealed cover in the safe custody of the Senior Registrar, in terms of its earlier orders.

The bench has not been conducting an open court hearing of the matter, considering its sensitive nature.