CBI won't be affected by trial court observations, says Delhi HC

Justice Subramonium Prasad's observation came while hearing a plea filed by Deshmukh against the trial court order directing a probe against him.

The court said that it is needless to state that a specialized investigating agency like CBI does not get carried away by the observations made by the magistrate while ordering a further investigation.

The court further added that it is obvious that the CBI would act independently.

The court also noted that the petitioner is not pressing the petition at this stage. Accordingly, the petitioner withdrew his plea.

Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari was representing the petitioner, Deshmukh. Deshmukh has raised apprehension against the observation made by the trial court.

Last month, a Delhi Court has directed CBI to further investigate the role of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with an alleged corruption case for leaking information of a separate case. The trial court had said that the CBI seems to have left the engine/horse pulling the cart.

The trial court direction had come while taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed against CBI's Sub-Inspector Abhishek Tiwari and lawyer Anand Daga.

Earlier CBI has arrested then CBI's Sub-Inspector Abhishek Tiwari and lawyer Anand Daga, in connection with an alleged corruption case for leaking information of a separate case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with the extortion case.

The arrests of CBI officials and lawyers had come after the CBI registered an FIR against the sub-inspector, a Nagpur-based Advocate, and unidentified persons on certain allegations, including illegal gratification.

On August 29, a report that was allegedly part of a preliminary inquiry conducted by CBI got leaked in media. The report mentions that the agency had concluded that "no cognizable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh".

The CBI in its internal inquiry found that Deshmukh's legal team tried to bribe some lower-ranked CBI officials in its preliminary inquiry.

Strict action will be taken against the staff who were involved in the case. The investigation is underway to find out if more people were involved in the conspiracy to manipulate the documents. (ANI)