SC hauls ASG over Mulayam DA case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday put a roadblock before the Manmohan Singh government���s ���quid pro quo politics��� when it charged the ���autonomous CBI��� with approaching the judiciary to close a case against Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members at the behest of the Centre.

The court came down heavily on the CBI when it sought the withdrawal of its earlier plea to prosecute the SP leader and his family members irrespective of the political master���s view. The court, which was furious over the blatant attempt to calibrate investigations to suit interests of those in power said it will not allow CBI to become an instrument of the Centre.

���We do not want the CBI to become an instrument of the Centre,��� a bench comprising Altmas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph said. The CBI had earlier told the SC that it was an independent agency wanting to prosecute Mr Yadav and his kin in accordance with law and without any governmental interference. ���Why do you want to withdraw the earlier petition,��� the benched asked. The two judges repeated this question six times to CBI counsel and additional solicitor-general Gopal Subramaniam. On his part, the ASG tried to claim that the ���mood swing��� was prompted by ���additional inputs��� received by CBI.

The court, which subjected the ASG to verbal caning, wanted to know the circumstances that prompted the CBI to change its stance. ���You had said that you are an independent probe agency not mandated to submit probe reports to the Centre. What was wrong with that prayer? Why do want to withdraw it? What is the reason for changing the stand? What is the basis for moving the present application seeking withdrawal of the earlier application,��� the bench asked, clearly venting its anger over the politicisation of the premier investigating agency.

In what complicated matters for CBI, the court asked the agency���s counsel whether CBI manual provided for seeking the Centre���s opinion in cases investigated by it.

The case was adjourned to next Monday as the bench wanted to have a look at CBI manual that explains procedure for investigations.

The development is certain to erode moral strength of CBI further, barely a year after it told the SC that ���in the matter of registration of a case, CBI does not make a reference either to the central government or the state government���. It had even asked the court���s permission to submit the status report on the investigations directly to the judiciary.