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High court pulls up Centre over Kesri case

The Delhi high court today severely rebuked the central government for its failure to investigate the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act violation case against the Congress and its former president Sitaram Kesri, saying that the probe was conveniently closed down.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Mahinder Narain and Justice S K Mahajan expressed serious displeasure on the manner in which the investigation into the case was being carried out by various agencies of the Central government.

''This is no investigation. It (the probe) is very conveniently closed down,'' the bench observed.

While raising a question mark on the Centre's intentions to probe the matter, the judges directed the government to place on record an affidavit stating whether it wanted to investigate the matter. The government was also asked to state 'what is the stand of the Union of India'.

Central government counsel A K Wali was directed by the bench to place the affidavit on record within three days before adjourning the case to April 13 for further hearing.

The court was hearing a public interest petition filed by Patna-based freelance journalist Madhuresh Kumar through his counsel Prashant Bhushan seeking the prosecution of Kesri and other Congress office-bearers for their alleged FCRA violation in 1993-94 and 1994-95.

UNI

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