The Delhi High Court today asked a petitioner, challenging the decision to confer Padma Bhushan on NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, to show where has the selection committee failed to meet the guidelines in his case.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta granted time till April 5 and asked petitioner S K Shah to furnish documents pertaining to the alleged failure of the selection committee while considering Chatwal's name for the prestigious award.
Appearing for the government, Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra submitted that following a Supreme Court ruling, a high-level committee is constituted to consider every aspect of all applicants before finalising their names.
The bench then asked the petitioner to prove where the committee had failed to follow the stipulated norms. "You cannot level wild allegations. There is a report of the committee which has already considered all the aspects...," the bench said.
Shah, appearing in person, alleged before the court that Chatwal was involved in various economic offences.
Earlier, the petitioner had sought a direction to the Centre to rescind the decision to confer the award on Chatwal on various grounds, including his alleged involvement in several cases.
Besides Chatwal, the Centre and CBI have also been made respondents in the Public Interest Litigation.
