Delhi HC quashes trial court order; allows CBI to retain seized documents
Justice P.S. Teji said that the main question was whether the documents seized by the CBI were to be retained by them or returned to the Delhi government
New Delhi: Quashing an order of the trial court, the Delhi high court on Wednesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to keep the documents that it seized during a raid at the office of Rajendra Prasad, principal secretary of Arvind Kejriwal.
The 20-January trial court order cannot be upheld as investigation by the CBI is still on, the order said. Justice P.S. Teji said that the main question was whether the documents seized by the CBI were to be retained by them or returned to the Delhi government.
CBI contended that the documents were imperative to the investigation process. “Although the trial court directs for the documents to be returned to Delhi government, I would like to show that they are relevant for the investigation," additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta said, appearing for the investigation agency.
The documents, which were to be examined by the court, were sought to be returned to the Delhi government as per the 20 January trial court order.
On 15 December, CBI raided the office of Rajendra Kumar to investigate alleged corrupt practices by him under his official authority and seized certain documents. The Delhi government objected to this claiming that seizing of documents was indiscriminate and that not all documents seized by the agency were relevant to the investigation.
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