Supreme Court Stays HC Order For CBI Probe Into Alleged Irregularities In Jharkhand Assembly Appointments

The Supreme Court today stayed a Jharkhand High Court order, whereby alleged irregularities in the appointments and promotions to Jharkhand State Assembly were directed to be enquired into by the Central Bureau of Investigation. To briefly state facts of the case, one Shiv Shankar Sharma, a social worker, approached the Jharkhand High Court with a public interest litigation seeking a direction upon Jharkhand authorities to implement a 2018 directive from then Governor to then Speaker regarding implementation of 30 reference points of Enquiry Commission with respect to illegal appointments in Vidhan Sabha. In September, the High Court granted Sharma's prayer and directed that the irregularities committed in the matter of illegal appointment/promotion to the legislative assembly of Jharkhand be preliminarily enquired by CBI. The High Court order observed, "The matter involves illegal appointment made in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, allegedly with connivance of the high ups of the State including the then Speaker, who is stated to be holding the post of Cabinet Minister, therefore, it would be desirable to entrust the investigation to an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation so that all concerned including the then speaker of legislative assembly may feel assured that an independent agency is looking into the matter.Since the high ups of the State of Jharkhand is involved in fulfilling the various posts in Jharkhand Legislative Assembly which has come in the report, hence it is not feasible to have proper investigation if the matter would be investigated by the State Police/State agency, therefore, for fair, honest and complete investigation, and particularly, when it is imperative to retain public confidence."