In an embarrassment to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a senior law officer of the government on Friday slammed the probe agency for filing a “half-baked” affidavit in response to a bail plea in the Supreme Court, but later termed it a miscommunication.
“This affidavit (of ED) was filed in haste without being vetted. I smell something fishy. I have ordered a departmental inquiry in the case. It has not been vetted…There is something wrong on the ED side. I have asked the director to start an inquiry,” Additional solicitor general SV Raju told a Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
“There is something hanky-panky as far as my department is concerned. Without consultation, a half-baked affidavit has been filed even before we made an appearance,” Raju, who represented the ED, told the Bench during hearing of an appeal filed by Arun Pati Tripathi, an Indian Telecom Services officer, against an October 25, 2024 order of the Chhattisgarh High Court rejecting his bail plea in connection with a high-profile Chhattisgarh liquor scam case.
As the ASG made the statement, the Bench sought the presence of the Advocate on Record (AoR) who filed the ED’s reply. “When the AoR files a counter-affidavit, then he is responsible…When the ED files an affidavit, the AoR needs to read it. We want to hear the AoR. Ask him to be present,” Justice Oka said.
Later, Raju said the AoR was not to be blamed and that he did not disown the affidavit. “It (affidavit) was filed without being vetted,” he told the Bench.
As the Bench said, “You (Raju) are casting aspersions on the AoR,” the ASG said he was not casting aspersions on anyone and apologised to the Bench for the miscommunication.
“Let it proceed. I will not file a fresh affidavit…I did not say AoR has to be blamed…Please bury the hatchet,” Raju said.
On behalf of Tripathi, senior counsel Meenakshi Arora termed it a strategy to keep the accused in jail.
She urged the Bench to grant him bail, saying he had been in jail for 18 months and the trial was unlikely to conclude in the near future.
Following the ASG’s clarification, the Bench posted the matter for February 5.
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