By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Monday pulled up the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) over its failure to explain as to how Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) Chairman and Managing Director R.S.P. Sinha was granted an extension in service despite corruption charges against him.
A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said: “Four months have passed but nothing has been done so far in explaining as on what grounds Sinha was given an extension.”
As the counsel for the CVC sought more time, the court rebuked the lawyer too.
“There is no time for seeking instructions. Is this the way a government statutory organisation works? Adjournments cannot be granted like this,” the bench said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier said that it had found nothing against Sinha, who is facing allegations of fraud in a 2004 tender for telecom equipment awarded to Motorola. But the special CBI court had Oct 4 rejected the investigating agency’s plea for closing the case against Sinha, saying that there were some vital pieces of evidence.
Besides Sinha, other accused in the case were former MTNL General Manager P. Singh and the then country head of Motorola.
Additional Solicitor General A.S. Chandiok, appearing for the government, contended that the extension of Sinha was well within the law but the bench pulled him up too. “You must have not gone through the letter of appointment of Sinha. You must apply your mind or else we will decide the issue,” the judges said.
The court asked the CVC to file, by Thursday, the report of the investigating officer (IO) Harshvardhan Singh, who had opposed Sinha’s extension and was later transferred, and also sought the CBI’s copy of the letter in which they have sought the permission from the government to initiate criminal proceedings against Sinha.
Sinha’s term ended Aug 10 but he continues to head the telecom public sector unit as his name has been forwarded to Appointments Committee of Cabinet for an extension till Sep 2011.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who had challenged the extension to Sinha on behalf of NGO Telecom Watchdog, urged the court to cancel the extension as it was a clear-cut case of bribery of a senior officer by a private company.