The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it will wait for government sanction for prosecution of a senior enforcement directorate officer in a corruption case before considering his petition for legal action against some CBI officials who are probing the matter against him for alleged forgery. Fixing the next hearing on suspended ED deputy director Ashok Agrawal's petition for July 29, Justice R S Sodhi said it would be proper to wait for grant of sanction by the government to ensure that no undue pressure was put on the CBI officials. If it appears that they (CBI officials) have done some mischief, action would be taken against them and at the same time I don't want that they are put under pressure, Justice Sodhi observed, adding to catch a big man is not an easy thing. They (CBI officials) should not be pressurised.
Senior advocate R K Anand, appearing for Agarwal alleged that CBI had concealed the fact from the trial court that an information received by Interpol in Singapore regarding his visit there in December 1999 was incorrect. CBI counsel A K Dutt said the agency could not be held responsible for it as it was a bonafide mistake on the part of Interpol, which had initially sent a report about Agarwal's visit there but in a subsequent report stated that the earlier information was not correct.
Anand alleged that due to concealment of this fact from the trial court, Agarwal was remanded to judicial custody in January 2000 and got bail after three weeks. Agarwal's plea for legal action against CBI official, was rejected by the trial court on February 14. Bureau Report