The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that while it does indeed have the ability to transfer a probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or even form a Special Investigation Team (SIT), such a power should only be exercised sparingly and in extraordinary situations.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud was addressing a plea to transfer the investigation into Hindenburg Research’s allegations against the Adani group from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to the CBI, or to constitute a SIT.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said that courts should not ordinarily supplant an authority which has been vested with the power to investigate. “Such powers must not be exercised by the court in the absence of cogent justification indicative of a likely failure of justice,” the judgment clarified.
‘Must prove inadequacy, bias’
It said that the onus was on the petitioners seeking a transfer to produce “strong evidence” indicating that the current investigating agency had portrayed inadequacy in the investigation or prima facie appeared to be biased.
“The power to transfer an investigation to investigating agencies such as the CBI must be invoked only in rare and exceptional cases... No person can insist that the offence be investigated by a specific agency,” the court noted.
While seeking a transfer, the petitioners should limit their plea to ensuring that the offence is investigated properly, it said.
