Nageswara Rao of CBI punished, fined for contempt of court

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Nageswara Rao of CBI punished, fined for contempt of court

Rao was personally present in the court today and tendered an “unconditional” apology

Tuesday February 12, 2019 1:05 PM, ummid.com News Network

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday punished and fined Nageswara Rao, former Interim Director of CBI, and legal advisor of CBI for contempt of court.

"Enough is enough", a furious SC bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had said while pronouncing its order last week.

Nageswara Rao and CBI legal advisor S Bhasuran were found guilty of contempt for ordering the transfer of Arun Kumar Sharma, an officer in the Bihar shelter home case, despite the Supreme Court warning.

"It is a fit case for contempt", the Supreme Court said and imposed a fine of Rs. 01 lakh on each and ordered them to sit in a corner till the court rises for the day.

Coming down heavily on Nageswara Rao for his “brazen” attitude, the Supreme Court said, “You were aware of the court's directions that the CBI officer cannot be transferred without its consent. If this is not contempt of court then what is?”

Rao was personally present in the court today and tendered an “unconditional” apology. The SC however rejected his apologies.

"Nageswara Rao has put himself at mercy of the court and has had an unblemished career as a police officer. Even if we accept his apology, his career record will remain blemished, as he has acted in contempt by his own admission", The bench also comprising of Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna besides the CJI said.

The Supreme Court had earlier said that Nageswara Rao went ahead and transferred CBI joint director AK Sharma despite explicit order passed on November 21, 2018 saying he should not be moved from the investigation into Muzaffarpur shelter home case.

Attorney General KK Venugopal appearing for Nageshwar Rao said his client has appologised for his mistakes and that the mistake was not committed wilfully. To this, CJI Gogoi said the Supreme Court had passed two orders clearly stating that the investigating officers in the Muzafffarpur shelter home case should not be transferred without the court's approval. "As Interim CBI Chief, Rao was aware of these orders", the SC said.

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