Court rejects CBI’s closure report filed in urea scam case after 22 years

New Delhi In an embarrassment to the CBI, a special court rejected its closure report in a case rela

In an embarrassment to the CBI, a special court rejected its closure report in a case related to the urea scam, asking it to probe the 22-year delay in filing it and ensure that such “miscarriage of justice” does not happen again.

Special Judge Surinder S Rathi did not mince words in his recent order as he pointed out that the last investigation in the case was conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 1999 and that it was evident that the agency sat on the report, which is legally unacceptable.

“This is obviously a cause of concern to this Court and also should be a cause of concern for the head of Investigating Agency i.e. Director, CBI,” the judge said.

The CBI director shall look into the matter and take necessary action as also steps to ensure that such “miscarriage of justice” does not happen again, he said.

“It is not CBI’s case that any investigation was going on in the matter after 1999 up to 2021... One fails to understand as to why the same (final report) was being withheld and what purpose the withholding must have been serving,” the court noted.

The judge also ordered the joint director of the prestigious anti-corruption unit 1 of the CBI to inquire into the matter and submit a report.

“Evidently, when the current final report was filed, the IO and the concerned SP conveniently did not discuss anything about this 22 years’ delay, even though they had an opportunity. Such conspicuous and deliberate silence in explaining the delay is legally unacceptable,” he said.