Dismissing the PIL that sought investigation against politicians whose names surfaced in the diaries and documents recovered by CBI during its raids on the premises of Birla and Sahara offices, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said no case is made out.
The petitions, filed by NGO Common Cause and another organisation, said the documents recovered during the raids allegedly showed massive bribes paid to high-profile politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
The court said that it would not be just or proper to order an FIR on the basis of material which the tax settlement commissioner had rejected as inadmissible as evidence.
The apex court said the documents placed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the case aren’t credible enough to direct a probe against Prime Minister and others.
The court said Bhushan’s plea is devoid of merit, and that the process of law can be misused for ‘ulterior goals’ if such documents are treated as legal evidence, and if a probe is ordered.
As per a Supreme Court judgment, a First Information Report has to be filed if any crime has been committed, he added.
Appearing for the government, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that there is no evidence to prove that Mr Modi was paid by corporate houses. No one in country would be safe if such documents are accepted as legal evidence, he added.
Last November, too, the Supreme Court refused to order a probe in the case, and called the documents produced by Bhushan as “fictitious” and “not authentic”. Last week, Bhushan submitted income tax appraisal reports to try and substantiate allegations and persuade the court to order a thorough probe.
‘Common Cause’, an NGO, had filed a affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking a court- monitored SIT investigation into the raids on two business houses in 2013-14 after which bribery allegations have been made against politicians including the Prime Minister.
