New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order which directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to verify allegations of disproportionate assets against him, on Monday.
The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana will hear the matter, as per the Apex court’s cause list of August 17, PTI has reported.
On July 20, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had expressed dissatisfaction with the CBI’s response and directed the agency’s senior officer to personally file a fresh affidavit detailing the progress made in the probe into the allegations of disproportionate assets against Rahul.
The High Court had also observed that if, during the course of its inquiry into the allegations, the 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 the Congress leader.
The order was passed after an in-chamber hearing lasting nearly two hours in the criminal writ petition filed by Karnataka resident S Vignesh Shishir.
Shishir, a BJP worker, had earlier filed pleas alleging that the Congress leader holds dual citizenship.
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 Rahul related to his assets, the High Court had held.
It had 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 had treated the matter as part-heard and fixed August 20 as the next date of hearing.
The Court had also granted four weeks time to the Union government to file detailed counter affidavits on behalf of the Department of Personnel and Training, the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
It had 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.
