The Allahabad High Court recently asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to examine a complaint which alleged disproportionate assets in possession of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and update the court on any developments.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Zafeer Ahmad gave the directions to the central agencies on May 12 while hearing a criminal writ petition filed by S. Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka.
Mr. Shishir had also approached this court in the past seeking an investigation into the alleged British citizenship of Mr. Gandhi. The High Court had ordered registration of FIR on his complaint last month but revoked the orders the same day stating that Mr. Gandhi was not given an opportunity to be heard.
During the hearing of the present complaint, the CBI’s counsel informed the court that the agency had received the complaint and would place its response on record within eight weeks. The ED’s counsel too gave a similar reply.
Hence, the court said that the allegations should be examined in accordance with legal procedure. It added that the agencies were free to take any step permitted under law.
