Gauhati HC order on CBI will impact over 9000 trials: Centre

PTI & FP :Nov 9, 2013 few mts back

New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the Gauhati High Court verdict holding the setting up of CBI as unconstitutional.

The Centre also filed an application seeking a stay on the high court order and an urgent hearing of its petition. 

Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam will now hear the matter at 4.30 pm this evening at his residence.

Stating that the Gauhati High Court erred in holding that the constitution of CBI was illegal, the Centre, in its petition, told the Supreme Court that the order passed by the Gauhati HC will have widespread ramifications.

“Gauhati HC verdict would directly impact 9,000 trials and 1,000 investigations which are being done by CBI,” Centre told the apex court.

Meanwhile, a caveat has also been filed by Narendra Kumar, on whose petition the Gauhati high court ruling had come, that he be heard before any order is passed on the Centre’s plea.

A division bench of Gauhati high court had struck down the resolution through which the CBI was set up and held all its actions as “unconstitutional”.

The bench comprising justices I A Ansari and Indira Shah had passed the verdict on a writ petition filed by Kumar challenging an order by a single judge of the High Court in 2007 on the resolution through which CBI was set up.

“We hereby…set aside and quash the impugned Resolution, dated 01.04.1963, whereby CBI has been constituted…. We do hold that the CBI is neither an organ nor a part of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) and the CBI cannot be treated as a ‘police force’ constituted under the DSPE Act, 1946,” the court had said.

“Situated thus, the actions of the CBI, in registering a case, arresting a person as an offender, conducting search and seizure, prosecuting an accused, etc., offend Article 21 of the Constitution and are, therefore, liable to be struck down as unconstitutional,” the judgement said.

It had further said the aforementioned Home Ministry resolution was “not the decision of the Union Cabinet nor were these executive instructions assented to by the President”.

The high court had also said that as per the records the Resolution, in question, cannot even be termed as the decision of the Government of India.

The bench had said the Union Home Ministry was working on the assumption that there is already provision in the Constitution for creation of the CBI.