‘Recruitment irregularities’: Top court sets aside Allahabad HC order for CBI probe, says should be last resort

Setting this aside, a Bench of Justice J K Maheswari and Justice Vijay Bishnoi said, “It is well settled that directions for CBI enquiry should not be ordered by the High Courts or this Court in a routine manner. The jurisprudence, as developed by this Court through judgements referred… qua the direction of an investigation by the CBI is well-settled. It imposes a significant self-restraint on the exercise of this extraordinary constitutional power under Article 32 or Article 226 of the Constitution of India.“The exercise of inherent powers to direct CBI to investigate must be exercised sparingly, cautiously, and only in exceptional situations,” the Bench added.

The bench said that the Supreme Court “has consistently cautioned that a CBI investigation should not be directed as a matter of routine or merely because a party casts certain aspersions or harbors a subjective lack of confidence in the State police”.

“It goes without saying that for invoking this power, the concerned Court must be satisfied that the material placed prima facie discloses commission of offences and necessitates a CBI investigation to ensure the fundamental right to a fair and impartial investigation, or where the complexity, scale, or national ramification of such allegations demands expertise of central agency,” it added.

The judgement added, “An order directing an investigation to be carried out by CBI should be treated as a measure of last resort…”