Supreme Court removes CBI Director Ranjit Sinha from 2G case; says prima facie credibility in allegations against him

Twelve days before his retirement, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha today suffered a major blow when the Supreme Court removed him from the 2G scam case, saying the allegations against him of protecting some accused appears to be "prima facie credible".

The apex court, in an unprecedented order, handed over the case to the senior-most officer after Sinha in the 2G scam investigating team.

A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, however, refused to pass an elaborate order on the issue saying that it would "tarnish" the "image and reputation" of the premier agency.

The fate of the top cop, who is due to retire on December 2, in the case became abundantly clear when the bench, also comprising justices M B Lokur and A K Sikri, before rising for the lunch break, asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Sinha, about various options.

The court said it did not want to pass an elaborate order, because it would be against the interest and image of the agency.

"Prima facie the allegations made in the application(by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation) are credible and required to be accepted," the bench observed.

However, his counsel insisted that the allegations levelled against Sinha of scuttling the 2G probe were "untrue".

Earlier in the day, Special Public Prosecutor Anand Grover said that Sinha had interfered in the 2G case which is completely inconsistent with the agendy's stand.

"Our case in 2G could have been demolished, if Sinha's stand was accepted," Grover had told the highest court.

dna, which had access to Sinha’s 2 Janpath guests' diary, had published a series of stories exposing Sinha for meeting several accused in various cases, including that of 2G scam, coal allocation scam and Qureshi case.