The Delhi High Court on Wednesday quashed a trial court order directing CBI to return documents seized during raids at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar’s office on December 15, 2015, saying it contained self-contradictory reasons. The Delhi government on the other hand is mulling to move the Supreme Court over the issue.
“We will appeal in the Supreme Court against the decision of the High Court,” said spokesperson of the Delhi government.
A Bench of Justice P S Teji, while allowing the appeal of CBI, said that the trial court exceeded in its jurisdiction and the order had self-contradictory reasons.
“The appeal is allowed. The trial court order stands quashed,” the Bench said.
CBI, on February 1, had submitted before the High Court that the seized documents do not paralyse the functioning of the AAP government, as alleged.
It had said that at the “initial stage of investigation relevancy of the documents cannot be disclosed even if known to the probe agency, as it can do harm to the on-going investigation”.
Opposing the trial court’s finding, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, had said that the documents in its possession will “not hamper their (the Delhi government) functioning and it cannot be said that these are unrelated documents” and “the order has completely demoralised the investigating agency”.
The Delhi government had countered CBI’s contention, saying the “agency has picked up documents which have nothing to do with the investigation and it is hampering the government’s functioning”.
The agency had contended that the Special CBI Judge had failed to appreciate that the Delhi government has already obtained photocopies of the documents seized and thus the order of returning the documents was “wholly misconceived”.
CBI had raided office of Kumar on December 15, last year and registered a corruption case against him and others alleging that he had abused his official position by “favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders from a Delhi government department”.
The Aam Aadmi Party government had told the court that the CBI was trying to give a “political colour” to the raid and that the agency acted under “political pressure” to indiscriminately seize the documents.
The CBI, however, said the documents seized from the office of Rajender Kumar “prima facie reflect criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct and abuse of official position by the accused people”.
Defending the seizure of documents from the office of Rajender Kumar, located next to the Chief Minister’s Office in the Delhi Secretariat, the agency had said the proper procedure for the search was followed.
Kejriwal claimed his office was raided too, and linked it to a probe he had ordered against union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on issues related to alleged corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) which Jaitley had headed earlier.