CBI Tells Supreme Court It Won't Be Filing Counter-Affidavit In Subramanian Swamy's Plea For Probe Against RBI Officials In Banking Scams

"I'll submit as to why CBI should not file counter because investigations are going on. In all A, B, or C bank frauds, the relevant agency is investigating and if there's complicity from RBI officials, he will also be investigated. There can't be a separate set of investigations for one set of officers only. That's the short point", SG Mehta argued while adding that RBI had already filed its counter.

"If they(CBI) don't want to file a counter, we will proceed", a Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath said.

The petitioner, appearing in person, Dr. Swamy expressed that CBI should file a status report on the investigations so far. The Bench, however, did not pass any such direction.

"Let CBI do whatever they want, we will deal with it later", the Bench replied.

Dr. Swamy also apprised that there's a representative Director of RBI who is not included in any part of the prosecution even though he's a party to every decision.

"Have you impleaded him as a party ?", the Bench asked.

He further told that he had received RBI's counter only today. The Court then allowed him to file a rejoinder in three weeks and for the matter to be listed in a month.

In the petition, in which Advocate Sathya Sabharwal is a co-petitioner, Dr. Swamy alleged that the involvement of RBI officials in scams involving various entities such as Kingfisher, Bank of Maharashtra, and Yes Bank had not been probed. In an earlier hearing, he had told the Bench that the RBI officials had allegedly escaped scrutiny concerning their involvement in certain bank scams.

In his petition, Swamy also placed reliance on information obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005 which purportedly revealed that no officer of the Reserve Bank had even been "held accountable" for any "dereliction of duty in case of any fraud reported by any bank".

He further contended that RBI officials had acted in "demonstrable active connivance" in direct violation of statutes such as the Reserve Bank of India Act, Banking Regulation Act, and State Bank of India Act.

Last year, in October, the Court issued notice in the plea.

Case Title: Dr. Subramanian Swamy v. Central Bureau of Investigation [WP (C) No. 196/2021]