Probe agency must be above board, CBI should dispel notion of being caged parrot: Justice Bhuyan
New Delhi (PTI): Observing that the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI was unjustified, Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday came down heavily on the premier agency for arresting the Delhi chief minister in the corruption case linked to excise policy 'scam', and said it must dispel the notion of being a caged parrot.
Writing a separate concurring judgement granting bail to the AAP supremo, Justice Bhuyan questioned the timing of Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI and said its aim was to frustrate grant of bail to him in the ED case.
Justice Surya Kant did not find any illegality in the CBI arrest.
"CBI is a premier investigating agency of the country. It is in the public interest that CBI must not only be above board, but must also be seen to be so. Every effort must be made to remove any perception that investigation was not carried out fairly and that the arrest was made in a high-handed and biased manner.
"In a functional democracy governed by the rule of law, perception matters. Like Caesar's wife, an investigating agency must be above board. Not long ago, this court has castigated the CBI comparing it to a caged parrot. It is imperative that CBI dispels the notion of it being a caged parrot. Rather, the perception should be that of an uncaged parrot," Justice Bhuyan wrote.
The top court judge said when Kejriwal has been granted bail under the more stringent provisions of PMLA, further detention by the CBI in respect of the same predicate offense has become wholly untenable.
"When the CBI did not feel the necessity to arrest the appellant for 22 long months, I fail to understand the great hurry and urgency to arrest the appellant when he was on the cusp of release in the ED case," Justice Bhuyan said.
He said the CBI can't justify arrest and continued detention citing evasive replies by Kejriwal, and added that non-cooperation cannot mean self-incrimination.
"The CBI must dispel notion of being a caged parrot, must show it is an uncaged parrot," Justice Bhuyan said.
It would be travesty of justice to keep Kejriwal in custody when he has got bail in the ED case on the same grounds, he said.
Justice Bhuyan said he has serious reservations on the conditions imposed in the ED case on Kejriwal which bar him from entering the CM's office and signing files.
"I am not commenting on conditions imposed on Kejriwal due to judicial discipline as it was in separate ED case," he added.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.
According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
