Unhappy with govt & CBI, special public prosecutor Anand Grover may quit 2G case
PoliticsReport

Unhappy with govt & CBI, special public prosecutor Anand Grover may quit 2G case

Grover is learnt to be uncomfortable about the manner in which the authorities have handled the case, and is likely to ask the SC to relieve him.

   
File photo of Anand Grover | Pradeep Gaur/Mint via Getty Images

File photo of Anand Grover | Pradeep Gaur/Mint via Getty Images

Grover is learnt to be uncomfortable about the manner in which the authorities have handled the case, and is likely to ask the SC to relieve him.

New Delhi: In a move that could cause embarrassment to the Narendra Modi government, Anand Grover, the Supreme Court-appointed special public prosecutor (SPP) in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, is likely to ask to be relieved of the responsibility.

Senior advocate Grover is likely to file an application, requesting the Supreme Court to relieve him at the earliest. He is learnt to have cited continuing “uncertainty” and “discomfiture” with the manner in which the government and the CBI have been handling the case as reasons for wanting out.

While the government has already appointed Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta as the SPP, there is no clarity on whether the government wants Mehta and Grover to work together.

Incidentally, while the CBI has a new SPP in Mehta, Enforcement Directorate cases continue to be with Grover. He is, however, likely to give up those cases as well as the 2G cases pending in the trial court.

The CBI and the ED have already announced their plan to file appeals against the judgment of the special CBI court, acquitting all accused in the high-profile case.

Discomfort with govt moves

Sources told ThePrint that Grover has already indicated to top functionaries of the CBI that he doesn’t want to continue handling the matter any longer.

This, sources said, could be due to what Grover views as needless and growing interference by the central government in the manner in which the 2G cases are handled in appeal.

Sources in the agency say Grover told senior CBI officials last week that he was concerned with the manner in which the government was trying to bring in new lawyers – the government on 8 February appointed Mehta the SPP, and then followed it up with another notification on 16 February, amending the 20 November 2014 notification and ensuring that Mehta and not Grover would spearhead the appeals in the 2G case, if and when that happens.

It is learnt that the CBI told Grover that he would continue to be part of the team.

Grover tightlipped

Reached for a comment, Grover refused to either confirm or deny the move, saying: “I was appointed by the Supreme Court and will tell only the court about my future plans.”

Incidentally, Grover was appointed by the Supreme Court in September 2014 after then SPP, U.U. Lalit, was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. This move was criticised by the special court, but many saw the criticism as aimed more at Lalit than Grover, since the latter entered the case at a later stage.

On 8 February the head of CBI’s Delhi branch, Gagandeep Gambhir, wrote to Grover, expressing concern over the delay in filing appeals against the trial court orders.

The same evening, Grover wrote back to Gambhir, accusing the agency of dilly-dallying on the appeals.

“I regret to inform you that neither has anybody (CBI officers) turned up at my office to brief me in the matter, nor has anybody given me any comments on the judgments either,” Grover told Gambhir.

In his letter, Grover also took exception to what he said was the CBI letter being “leaked” even before it reached him.