[Narada case] “CBI is operating based on a stay order of the Supreme Court:” The curious case of a seven-year-old apex court order

The hearing before the Calcutta High Court in the Narada case relating to the arrest of four All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders witnessed an interesting submission by Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra..Luthra, who was appearing for the accused, said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is continuing to function based on an interim order passed by the Supreme Court seven years ago.“CBI is operating based on a stay order of the Supreme Court. It is hanging on that stay order. If that stay order goes...” he said..The argument was made after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, said that the investigating agency was stopped from discharging its duty by the TMC workers and leaders by way of an "orchestrated" effort.Luthra, however, did not expand much on his submission or explain which Supreme Court order he was referring to..A deeper dive reveals that Luthra was hinting at an order passed by the top court more than seven years ago by which it stayed a ruling of the Gauhati High Court holding the CBI to be unconstitutional.The Gauhati High Court had on November 6, 2013 ruled that a 1963 resolution of the Union government constituting the CBI was unconstitutional and that the CBI can be constituted only through a statute..The Central government had then rushed to the Supreme Court, and after an urgent hearing held at the residence of then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on a Saturday afternoon, obtained a stay on the High Court judgment.The case was thereafter listed on numerous occasions but is yet to come up for final hearing.As per the Supreme Court website, the case was last listed on July 21, 2020, though the last available order copy on the website is from June 26, 2019.On that date, the Court had simply adjourned the matter stating “list after summer vacation”..[Read Supreme Court of November 2013].[Read Gauhati High Court judgment]