LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday conducted a two-hour in-chamber hearing on a petition seeking a CBI and ED probe into allegations that Congress MP from Rae Bareli Rahul Gandhi accumulated assets disproportionate to his income.
The order of the Lucknow Bench had not been uploaded on the Allahabad High Court's website till the filing of this story. The matter has been posted for the next hearing on August 20.
A division bench comprising Justice R S Chauhan and Justice B R Singh passed the order on a criminal writ petition filed by Karnataka BJP worker S Vignesh Shishir.
The petitioner has levelled serious allegations against Gandhi regarding the accumulation of disproportionate assets and has sought an inquiry into the matter.
In its last order, the bench had observed, "It is expected that if the complaint of the petitioner, Shishir, has been received, the allegations of the complaint may be verified as per law. It is needless to say that the CBI or ED may take appropriate steps which are permissible under the law."
Besides the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the bench had also directed the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Director of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to file their responses to the allegations levelled by the petitioner against Gandhi within eight weeks.
The bench had also conducted an in-chamber hearing in the case on May 12, and its order was uploaded on the High Court's website on May 14.
The order stated that the CBI informed the bench that it had received the petitioner's complaint and would file its response within eight weeks.
Similarly, the ED informed the bench that it had received the complaint and might verify the allegations, after which the progress in the matter would be apprised to the court on July 20.
While seeking replies from several government agencies, the bench had said that by filing responses in the form of counter-affidavits, the progress regarding the complaint submitted by the petitioner to the agencies should be apprised to the court.
On the question of whether the petition was maintainable, the bench said the issue would be examined after receiving the counter-affidavits of the respective parties and the rejoinder affidavits.
Furthermore, the court directed its senior registrar to keep the paper-book and the loose documents submitted by the petitioner in a sealed cover to be opened on July 20.
