SC agrees to hear CBI plea relating to over 120 graft cases

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the plea of the CBI challenging its stay on the trial court proceedings in as many as 122 corruption cases being probed by the agency.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submission of Solicitor General (SG) Ranjit Kumar, representing the CBI in the matters, that the charge sheets were filed way back in 2002 and the trial proceedings were stalled due to the stay granted by the top court.
These cases were filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the charge sheets were also filed and now the probe agency was facing difficulties, the law officer said.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing one of the accused in a matter, said he has no difficulty if the matters are taken up and decided in the week commencing September 11.
The bench then said that it would list the matters for hearing during the week starting September 11.
The apex court had on August 8 referred to three-judge bench the batch of petitions challenging the stay granted in trials in graft cases by higher courts despite a specific prohibition against it under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The top court's verdict will decide the fate of cases pending in various courts where trial has been stayed by the apex court and high courts in corruption cases.

The law officer had contended that some of these appeals were pending in the apex court for the last 15 years and most of the cases were Delhi-centric.
The solicitor general had said the stay in graft cases were granted despite a statutory ban under Section 19(3)(c) of the Act which says "No court shall stay the proceedings under this Act on any other ground and no court shall exercise the powers of revision in relation to any interlocutory order passed in any enquiry, trial, appeal or other proceedings.