TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (3) TMI 1264
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.... misused his public office to amass assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The petitioners have also alleged that he has misappropriated a large volume of public money at the cost of the Government of India and the Government of Sikkim. The relief sought by the petitioners is the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the allegations that have been levelled against him. 2. It may be recalled that the State of Sikkim had become a full fledged state of the Union of India, following the enactment of the Thirty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution which was given effect in 1975. The said amendment had inserted Article 371F into the constitutional text which lays down sp....
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....ared his family's assets taken together to be Rs. 4,76,54,238/-. This declaration was made as per the requirements of the Representation of People Act, 1951. However, the petitioners have alleged that the total assets actually amount to more than Rs. 25 crores. 4. In Paragraph 29 of the writ petition, the petitioners have incorporated a detailed description of the movable and immovable assets that allegedly belong to Respondent No. 2 and his relatives. Furthermore, the petitioners have also alleged that Respondent No. 2 has acquired several immovable properties either in his own name or in the name of his relatives or in the name of his nominees by way of misappropriating funds from the public exchequer. In Annexure P-20, the petitione....
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....e Court may deem fit and proper. 5. In the course of the proceedings before this Court, Sh. Vinod Bobde, Sr. Adv. argued on behalf of the petitioners. Thereafter, Sh. Ram Jethmalani, Sr. Adv. made oral submissions on behalf of the respondents, followed by Sh. K.K. Venugopal. Sr. Adv. Thereafter, Sh. Vinod Bobde, Sr. Adv. made his submissions in rejoinder. 6. Before addressing the substance of the petitioners' submissions, it must be mentioned that there are four petitioners in this case who are serving as office-bearers of a political party in Sikkim. Petitioner No. 3 has affirmed through an affidavit dated 31st August, 2007, that they were advised to file a writ petition before this Court by former Chief Minister of the State of Sikk....
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....stice in the matters before it. As explained by J.S. Verma, C.J., in Vineet Narain v. Union of India (1998) 1 SCC 226 (Para. 49): 49. There are ample powers conferred by Article 32 read with Article 142 to make orders which have the effect of law by virtue of Article 141 and there is mandate to all authorities to act in aid of the orders of this Court as provided in Article 144 of the Constitution. In a catena of decisions of this Court, this power has been recognized and exercised, if need be, by issuing necessary directions to fill the vacuum till such time the legislature steps in to cover the gap or the executive discharges its role... 9. However, the remedies evolved by way of writ jurisdiction are of an extraordinary nature. They c....
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....ve directions for initiating such an investigation under its writ jurisdiction. While it is true that in the past, the Supreme Court of India as well as the various High Courts have indeed granted remedies relating to investigations in criminal cases, we must make a careful note of the petitioners' prayer in the present case. In the past, writ jurisdiction has been used to monitor the progress of ongoing investigations or to transfer ongoing investigations from one investigating agency to another. Such directions have been given when a specific violation of fundamental rights is shown, which could be the consequence of apathy or partiality on part of investigating agencies among other reasons. In some cases, judicial intervention by way....