M Nageswara Rao held prima facie guilty of contempt of court for transferring the Muzaffarpur shelter home case probe officer.
The Supreme Court on Thursday held former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interim Director M Nageswara Rao prima facie guilty of contempt of court for transferring the Muzaffarpur shelter home case probe officer.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, held Rao prima facie guilty of contempt of court for approving the curtailment of tenure of Joint Director AK Sharma and removing him as investigating head of Muzaffarpur shelter home probe without permission from Court.
The top court directed him and Basurao S, the Director of Prosecution, to remain present in court on Tuesday.
The court further asked the present CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla to inform which other officers were involved in signing the order approving AK sharma's transfer from CBI to CRPF as Additional Director General.
Also Read: 'Enough is enough': Supreme Court raps CBI, Bihar govt over Muzaffarpur shelter home case; transfers trial to Delhi
Sharma was transferred by Appointments committee of cabinet in January this year. Sharma could not be transferred out from Muzaffarpur case as court protected him by order dated 31 Oct, 2018 and Nov 28, 2018.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet which approved Sharma's transfer was kept in the dark about the SC orders.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on CBI for transferring its former Joint Director AK Sharma, who was probing Bihar's shelter home cases, out of the agency in violation of the court's order and directed its then interim chief M Nageswara Rao to personally appear before it on February 12.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took serious note of violation of two earlier orders of the apex court and issued contempt notice to Rao for transferring Sharma to the CRPF on January 17 without taking prior permission from the court.
The bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, directed CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla to give the names of officers who were part of the process in transferring Sharma out of the probe agency.
The top court referred to its earlier orders in which it had asked CBI not to remove Sharma from the team probing Bihar shelter home cases.
Besides Rao, the bench also sought appearance of all other CBI officers who were involved in the transfer process of Sharma on February 12.
Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur and the issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
(With PTI inputs)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "File photo of Supreme Court, PTI")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}