Delhi High Court dismisses Kirti Azad’s plea for CBI investigation into DDCA

The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition filed by former cricketers, Kirti Azad and Bhishan Singh Bedi, that had sought a probe monitored by the CBI into the alleged financial irregularities at the DDCA..Justice Manmohan termed the petition, ‘premature’ and further noted that the CBI had already begun an investigation from October of last year and therefore, sufficient time ought to be given to the agency for this purpose..Justice Manmohan further went on to add that a SIT ought to be called for, only in the “rarest of rare” cases, and not simply because a ‘Union Minister’ was alleged to be involved..Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani who appeared for the Petitioners had argued that the CBI had not yet filed an FIR in the matter and that as per some audit reports and findings of a fact-finding committee, there were irregularities in the cricket body..Appearing for the CBI, ASG Neeraj Kishan Kaul submitted that the agency was already seized of the issue and will continue its investigation accordingly..He added,.“There is no need [here] of a court-monitored probe. Petitions can’t be used to settle political scores.”.ASG Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Union, also argued that the prayers in the petition which, inter-alia, sought for cancellation of privileges to the DDCA, were ‘baseless’, and submitted that lands were given at concessional rates to other bodies as well..Since this was a policy decision, privileges to DDCA ought not to be cancelled when the policy itself was not challenged, argued Jain.