The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday submitted before the Supreme Court that the Delhi high court misconstrued the apex court's order in the Vineet Narain case by quashing the charge sheet against the Hinduja brothers in the Bofors case.
The investigating agency added the high court order had insulated the accused from being prosecuted.
Arguing for the investigating agency, Solicitor General Kirit Raval stated before a bench of Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice G P Mathur that the judgment in the Vineet Narain case was supposed to insulate the CBI from political interference, but not protect accused persons in the guise of prior sanction.
The high court had quashed the charge sheet against Hinduja brothers in May last year on the ground that CBI had not taken prior approval of the Central Vigilance Commission before filing the charge sheet against them in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case.
Raval argued that the high court went beyond the mandate of the Supreme Court order entrusting superintendence of CBI functioning to the CVC and equated reporting to the Commission to that of seeking prior approval of the CVC before filing the charge sheet.
Contesting the submission of Raval, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani who appeared for Hindujas submitted that the apex court by entrusting superintendence to the CVC did not envisage it to be an 'impotent body' only to receive reports from the CBI on cases.
He said the CVC being part and parcel of the CBI had been envisaged to scrutinise charge sheets before they being filed in the court of law to ensure it was not done frivolously or to punish innocent persons for political reasons.