Supreme Court refuses probe into alleged Birla-Sahara payoffs to Modi

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“Given the shape in which these documents have been collected and filed, we are of the opinion that it would not be safe and proper to order investigation”, the court said in its order while weighing the evidence placed before it in the context of earlier judgments of the apex court, including that of the Constitution Bench.

‘Common Cause’, an NGO, had filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking a court- monitored SIT investigation into the raids on two business houses in 2013-14 after which bribery allegations were made against politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The verdict could be seen as a big setback for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal who have recently, in reference to those IT raids, attacked Modi and accused him of being involved in corrupt practices.

‘Common Cause’, which has repeatedly been asked by the court to come up with credible material in support of its bribery allegations, had last week filed several documents, including some e-mails, as annexures to its affidavit.

It claimed that the fresh material pertained to CBI raid on Aditya-Birla Group office and the Income Tax raid on the premises of Sahara group and subsequent investigations.

A bench headed by by Justice Khehar had last month questioned the NGO and its lawyer Prashant Bhushan whether aspersions could be cast against the prime minister without placing “sufficient”, “firm” and “clear” materials.

It had also said that the PIL was based on “zero material” and was only making “insinuations” and asked Bhushan to come out with credible material for the court to consider.

(With inputs from agencies)

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