A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) joint director supervising the probe against meat exporter Moin Qureshi to appear before it on November 17 to answer its queries about the role of former agency directors AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha in the case.
The court has also summoned the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case for an explanation.
Special CBI judge Sanjeev Aggarwal, in his order on in September 26, had posed a series of questions to the agency regarding its slow pace of investigation in the high profile case, while asking it to file a status report on the probe which has been lingering on for over three years.
The judge had asked CBI why it was dragging its feet in a case involving the roles of two of its ex-directors, which may lead to an inference that it was not very keen to investigate them.
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“….it is apparent that in fact in this case, role of two of its ex-directors is under scanner i.e. AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha, along with alleged middleman Moin Akhtar Qureshi, which needs upfront i.e. frank and honest investigations,” the judge said on September 26.
{{/usCountry}}“….it is apparent that in fact in this case, role of two of its ex-directors is under scanner i.e. AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha, along with alleged middleman Moin Akhtar Qureshi, which needs upfront i.e. frank and honest investigations,” the judge said on September 26.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, CBI sought more time to file the status report.
The judge in his order summoning the IO and JD, on Tuesday, said that, “...it is expected from the premier investigating agency/CBI that they would candidly answer the queries/issues raised by this court provisionally on the last date of hearing, considering the fact that some of the queries pertain to the role of two of its ex-directors—AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha—along with alleged middleman Moin Akhtar Qureshi”.
“However, considering the peculiar circumstances, let the IO along with the concerned JD, CBI, who is supervising the investigations of this case, be summoned for the next date of hearing for answering the queries raise in order dated September 26,” the order said on Tuesday.
Qureshi used to collect money from individuals directly or through Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Sana Babu and used the funds “for influencing probes” by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said after a probe in 2019. Qureshi was arrested in 2017.