CHENNAI: There is no need for a CBI probe into the allegation of kickbacks to top police officials and officials, including ministers, in the gutka scam case as the State police are capable of handling inter-state crimes and in fact, it had done so in the cases involving Central government officials, Advocate-General Vijay Narayan told the first bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday.
When arguments on a PIL petition from DMK MLA J Anbazhagan resumed before the bench, the AG said that there was much progress in the investigation conducted by the DVAC into the gutka scam. He said this when the CJ pointed out that even today gutka was being sold in pan shops and asked how this was going on. The AG said that even in advanced countries like the US, banned drugs were available.
Cocaine was coming from Columbia. Criminals operate despite the enforcement of stringent laws. It would be the job of the police to check and take action but the criminals continue to operate. The police are making their best efforts to stop this menace, he said.
When the CJ expressed concern about inter-state crimes, Narayan replied that the State police had handled many inter-state crimes, in which Central government officials were also accused. Citing a judgment of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on the appointment of the DGP, Narayan said one of the prayers in that petition was to transfer the investigation into the gutka scam to the CBI. The bench had rejected it
There was a clear finding by that Bench on the same material that there was no basis for an apprehension that the DVAC would not conduct an impartial inquiry since the minister and higher officials were involved.
The case on hand does not warrant a CBI probe. The court has to see whether there is any change in circumstances from the date of the judgment of the Madurai Bench and what is the additional material placed before the court. “There is nothing new”, he added.
Vijay Narayan said there was a statutory bar on transferring the case to the CBI. The State government has to give its consent for the transfer of probe. The court has to examine the materials on record and find out whether the probe is going on in a wrong direction and then decide the issue.
It is not enough to say higher officials are involved. There is no single in the affidavit that it has inter-state ramifications, he said and added that since the of the Bench covered this issue and in the absence of materials to show that the investigation was going on in a wrong direction or derailed, there was no need to transfer the case to the CBI. The arguments will continue on Thursday.