CBI and ED to complete investigation in 2G case in another 6 months: Supreme Court

A Bench comprising of Justices Arun Misra and Naveen Sinha has directed the Centre to file a status report on the investigation into the 2G spectrum scam as well as related cases in another 2 weeks. The Apex court was hearing the matter pertaining to 2G spectrum case. The court stated that the people of the country cannot be kept in dark regarding the case and the people of the country have a right to know about the investigation in the 2G scam case. Thereby, the court directed the investigating agencies CBI and ED to complete their probe on the matter within a span of 6 months. The court further approved the decision of the Central government to appoint Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case. The court consequently relieved Senior Advocate Anand Grover who was appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor in 2014. The court stated that the citizens ought to know why there has been so much delay in the matter. The court was also skeptical about having an individual hand behind the investigation because of which the agencies were not able to complete their investigations. The court reprimanded the agencies and said that every officer related to the probe would be pulled up if the probe is not completed within a span of 6 months. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, who is assisting the court in the matter, was also questioned by the court. The bench told Mr. Venugopal that it was a very shocking state of affairs and the case is very significant for the people of this country. The bench was firm that it wanted answers to all the questions raised by the CAG in his report. In his reply, Attorney General took a stand for the probe agencies and stated that CBI and ED have not been able to proceed with the investigation because they haven't received a response from the Malaysian government with regards to the letters issued against the Aircel Owner, T. Ananda Krishnan. The court has asked for a report on the status of the probe and has fixed April 3 as the date to hear the matter again.