New Delhi: In a major relief to Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, the Delhi High Court on Thursday dropped a case of alleged disproportionate assets (DA) against him.
A division Bench headed by Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed also rejected the Centre’s plea for keeping the case pending.
The Bench noted that the petition, which had initially come to the HC as a PIL by NGO Common Cause, had three prayers — CBI probe, inquiry by income tax authorities and monitoring by HC.
Noting that while the CBI had already registered a regular case against Virbhadra, the IT department had started re-assessing his tax returns, the Bench said nothing survived in the petition.
The HC had already removed Common Cause as the petitioner in the case, expressing doubts over the involvement of public interest. The court had passed the order following the contention of Virbhadra’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal that it was a politically motivated case. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who argued for the petitioner, was a leader of the AAP, Sibal had pleaded.
Following this, the HC had appointed two lawyers as amicus curiae to study the case and advise the court on its admissibility and the future course of action. Sibal had also objected to the HC entertaining the petition without any jurisdiction as the alleged illegal wealth was in HP.
A division Bench headed by Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed also rejected the Centre’s plea for keeping the case pending.
The Bench noted that the petition, which had initially come to the HC as a PIL by NGO Common Cause, had three prayers — CBI probe, inquiry by income tax authorities and monitoring by HC.
Noting that while the CBI had already registered a regular case against Virbhadra, the IT department had started re-assessing his tax returns, the Bench said nothing survived in the petition.
The HC had already removed Common Cause as the petitioner in the case, expressing doubts over the involvement of public interest. The court had passed the order following the contention of Virbhadra’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal that it was a politically motivated case. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who argued for the petitioner, was a leader of the AAP, Sibal had pleaded.
Following this, the HC had appointed two lawyers as amicus curiae to study the case and advise the court on its admissibility and the future course of action. Sibal had also objected to the HC entertaining the petition without any jurisdiction as the alleged illegal wealth was in HP.
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