CBI files petition in HC against CIC order under RTI
27 Jun, 2012The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the order dated April 2 of the Central Information Commission (CIC) wherein the CBI was directed to provide information relating to the investigation done by the CBI in the teachers’ recruitment scam.
Earlier a social activist, Hemant Goswami had filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking information relating to the investigation done by the CBI and evidence collected by it in its initial probe wherein it had given a “clean chit”. CBI was made a respondent in a public interest litigation (PIL) by the Punjab and Haryana High court in the case. The CBI moved the High Court today. In its appeal before the High Court, the CBI has taken the plea that handing over of the said information might hamper the prosecution of offenders. A vacation bench of the High Court has issued notices to the CIC and Hemant Goswami, asking them to file their respective responses.
On February 21, the High Court had passed strictures against the working of the Chandigarh Office of the CBI and had handed over the investigation of the Chandigarh teachers’ recruitment scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s Delhi Office while observing that “sufficient amount of suspicion has been aroused in the mind of the Court indicating a complete cover-up by the CBI Chandigarh branch”.