SC asks CBI to probe Hindalco on allegations of bribery

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to take a call if the entries in the diary recovered from Aditya Birla group’s Hindalco’s office points to any offence and if so, then to proceed in the matter. “The material has come before the CBI and they are expected to act in accordance with law”, the bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said, while hearing matters relating to the coal block scam.

“We expect the CBI to act in accordance with the law laid down by this court and the Code of Criminal Procedure”, the court said in its order.

The recovered documents allegedly indicate payments to politicians and political groups, he claimed, adding the CBI can not wash its hands off from investigating the diary.

“We are not commenting on whether these documents are disclosing any offence or not, it is for CBI to take action…”

The NGO’s counsel Prashant Bhushan argued that the payments were perhaps made to procure speedy clearances during the UPA regime when Natarajan was the minister.

When the CBI pleaded that the Enforcement Directorate was already looking into the aspect of seizure, Mr. Bhushan countered that the ED investigate any links to possible money laundering unless an FIR is lodged by the CBI or other agency.

It also asked senior advocate Amrendra Sharan, appearing for CBI, to file a status report on the progress of probe into these cases in the first week of January next year.

Earlier, the CBI had said the recovery of money and documents had “no nexus” with the coal scam.

The court also said that it does not propose a monitor to the case as it does not fall under the category of coal scam cases.

In a related proceedings, former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha opposed a request made by the court-appointed panel to get access to the alleged original visitors’ diary of his official residence during his tenure.

The application alleged that among the various things seized by the CBI during a raid on Birla’s corporate office in Delhi on October 15, 2013, was a diary that revealed payment of Rs 7.08 crore under the heading “Project J – Environment & Forest” along with unaccounted cash of Rs 25 crore and a few incriminating documents.

The Group has repeatedly denied any wrong doing.