At 10.30 am, soon after the High Court's decision was out, the Centre's legal team led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pressed the panic button and moved the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing.
The Supreme Court put the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) back in control on Friday over an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities in the award of exploration licences of atomic minerals by the UPA-II government, hours after the probe was stalled by the Delhi High Court.
At 10.30 am, soon after the High Court's decision was out, the Centre's legal team led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pressed the panic button and moved the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing. Mehta informed the vacation bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna that the probe was ordered on April 1 after irregularities were recorded in the process of selection by a Screening Committee which shortlisted 16 private companies to explore offshore blocks for presence of atomic minerals. The HC had stayed this reference order of April 1.
With neither the HC order nor the letter of April 1 on record, the bench asked Mehta to produce either of the two documents.
At 12.30 pm, when the matter was again taken up, both the HC order and letter was produced. It was pointed out by S-G in the Centre's appeal that the June 7, 2010 decision taken by the then UPA Government to award licenses did not follow due diligence by the officers concerned. One of these officers under probe who then worked as Comptroller General of the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) had approached the Delhi HC. The Centre's appeal further pointed out that the HC was informed about a Supreme Court by which the grant of exploration licenses under the June 2010 order was stayed.
EXPLORING MINERALS
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the SC that a probe was ordered on April 1 after irregularities were recorded in the process of selection of 16 private companies to explore offshore blocks for presence of atomic minerals
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