The Supreme Court will hear on August 17 leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s plea challenging a series of orders passed by the Allahabad High Court on a petition alleging that he possesses assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
A bench of comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana is scheduled to take up the Congress leader’s plea on Monday. He has also filed a separate transfer petition in connection with the case.
Gandhi has challenged the high court’s directions issued in proceedings initiated on a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker S Vignesh Shishir, who has sought a probe against Gandhi and other members of his family.
In May, the high court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to verify the allegations made by Shishir. The high court subsequently sought a fresh affidavit from CBI detailing the status of its inquiry. In its July 20 order, the division bench expressed dissatisfaction with the agency’s response.
“The counter affidavit of CBI does not appear to be a counter affidavit in terms of earlier order. Even we are unable to understand about the progress of the investigation done by the CBI,” it had observed.
{{/usCountry}}“The counter affidavit of CBI does not appear to be a counter affidavit in terms of earlier order. Even we are unable to understand about the progress of the investigation done by the CBI,” it had observed.
{{/usCountry}}The high court said that the ED had taken the required steps and was free to proceed further if its investigation yielded material warranting action. It also directed that the proceedings continue as a part-heard matter before the same bench and listed the case for August 20.
Gandhi has challenged these directions before the top court.
Separately, Shishir has another petition pending before the Allahabad High Court seeking criminal action against Gandhi on allegations of violations of citizenship laws. Shishir has claimed that Gandhi held a British passport in addition to his Indian passport.
The high court had initially ordered registration of a first information report (FIR) against Gandhi in that matter. However, the judge subsequently withheld the direction and recused himself from the case after Shishir made social media posts concerning the proceedings. That case remains pending before the high court.