In a surprising development, the Supreme Court yesterday issued notice to the Central government and Central Bureau of Investigation in a petition filed by advocate ML Sharma pertaining to the AgustaWestland scam..The matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh in court room 4..Sharma in his petition has sought the registration of FIRs against those Indians named in the judgment passed by the Court of Appeal of Milan. He has also sought a direction for constitution of a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the case under the supervision of the Supreme Court..One of the primary submissions made by him is that the political clout of those named will result in the matter being “thrown in the dustbin”..“….Italian court judgment name of the above persons has been decided as accused who have taken bribed and are involved in the helicopter deal therefore an F.I.R. and further criminal action must be initiated against them but due to political reason respondent will not do the same and matter will be thrown in the dustbin in the coming period of time..…..despite having information since 2011 respondent did not register even an FIR against the said Indian citizens involved in having kickback in helicopter bribe till day. Even in press conference Defense minister did not say to lodge an FIR and to arrest named Indian accused person.”.But that is not all..What is truly baffling about the petition is that it appears to be a cut-paste job from a petition filed years ago. The present petition claims that the Prime Minister’s Office is “known to be controlled by Italy born Congress President”..“Because at present CBI is in under control of Prime minister office which is known to be controlled by Italy born Congress president to work as per their wish. Like Bofors link is also related to the Italy and local Indian having hand with power controlled politicians and CBI will not put true evidence, even will not arrest alleged accused person what had not been done till today despite name has already been exposed by the Italy investigator in charge sheet and now in the judgment dt.7.4.2016 passed by the appeal court at Milan Italy..Because there is very much likely of apprehension that above said scenario will be manipulated with report by the respondent’s controlled CBI in the same manner what has already been done in Bofors and other cases.”.So has Sharma “borrowed” from a similar petition pertaining to the matter in 2013 when the UPA was in power? It certainly seems to be the case..There are other discrepancies in the petition, including the verbatim lifting of sections of an Indian Express article into the petition..Of course, ML Sharma is no stranger to the Supreme Court, and some of his petitions do in fact raise serious questions. After all, it was his petition that led to the “Coalgate” judgment..At the same time, there have been numerous instances when Sharma has tested the patience of the court. In 2014, then Chief Justice RM Lodha had imposed costs of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000 on ML Sharma – the first one in a PIL for quashing the sale of Air India hotels and the second in a Habeas Corpus petition on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose..Later, the Constitution Bench presided by Justice JS Khehar, which was hearing the case on NJAC had nearly barred him from filing PILs in Supreme Court..Nonetheless, be it poor or lazy drafting, the question that begs to be asked is should the court have issued notice at all?
In a surprising development, the Supreme Court yesterday issued notice to the Central government and Central Bureau of Investigation in a petition filed by advocate ML Sharma pertaining to the AgustaWestland scam..The matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh in court room 4..Sharma in his petition has sought the registration of FIRs against those Indians named in the judgment passed by the Court of Appeal of Milan. He has also sought a direction for constitution of a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the case under the supervision of the Supreme Court..One of the primary submissions made by him is that the political clout of those named will result in the matter being “thrown in the dustbin”..“….Italian court judgment name of the above persons has been decided as accused who have taken bribed and are involved in the helicopter deal therefore an F.I.R. and further criminal action must be initiated against them but due to political reason respondent will not do the same and matter will be thrown in the dustbin in the coming period of time..…..despite having information since 2011 respondent did not register even an FIR against the said Indian citizens involved in having kickback in helicopter bribe till day. Even in press conference Defense minister did not say to lodge an FIR and to arrest named Indian accused person.”.But that is not all..What is truly baffling about the petition is that it appears to be a cut-paste job from a petition filed years ago. The present petition claims that the Prime Minister’s Office is “known to be controlled by Italy born Congress President”..“Because at present CBI is in under control of Prime minister office which is known to be controlled by Italy born Congress president to work as per their wish. Like Bofors link is also related to the Italy and local Indian having hand with power controlled politicians and CBI will not put true evidence, even will not arrest alleged accused person what had not been done till today despite name has already been exposed by the Italy investigator in charge sheet and now in the judgment dt.7.4.2016 passed by the appeal court at Milan Italy..Because there is very much likely of apprehension that above said scenario will be manipulated with report by the respondent’s controlled CBI in the same manner what has already been done in Bofors and other cases.”.So has Sharma “borrowed” from a similar petition pertaining to the matter in 2013 when the UPA was in power? It certainly seems to be the case..There are other discrepancies in the petition, including the verbatim lifting of sections of an Indian Express article into the petition..Of course, ML Sharma is no stranger to the Supreme Court, and some of his petitions do in fact raise serious questions. After all, it was his petition that led to the “Coalgate” judgment..At the same time, there have been numerous instances when Sharma has tested the patience of the court. In 2014, then Chief Justice RM Lodha had imposed costs of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000 on ML Sharma – the first one in a PIL for quashing the sale of Air India hotels and the second in a Habeas Corpus petition on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose..Later, the Constitution Bench presided by Justice JS Khehar, which was hearing the case on NJAC had nearly barred him from filing PILs in Supreme Court..Nonetheless, be it poor or lazy drafting, the question that begs to be asked is should the court have issued notice at all?