NEW DELHI: The CBI on Monday submitted in the Delhi High Court a status report on the ongoing investigations into the Navy war room leak case even as a bench issued notice to 'Outlook' magazine seeking its reply on the controversy.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Gopal Subramaniam submitted in a sealed cover to the court, a status report on the progress of investigations conducted by the agency into the scandal.
The report was submitted in response to a PIL filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which complained that the leak was linked to the Scorpene submarines deal in which crores of rupees of kickbacks were exchanged at various levels.
The Bench, headed by acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain, while taking on record the investigation report, however, turned its attention on "Outlook" after the ASG complained that the magazine, which claimed to have unearthed the scoop, refused to publish a "point by point" rebuttal issued by the Union Government on the impugned articles.
"The magazine cannot publish a one-sided story. It is its duty to publish the other side of the story, particularly if the Government has sought to give a clarification," Justice Jain said.
When Prashant Bhushan counsel for the CPIL argued that the magazine's role had no relevance to the PIL, Justice Jain retorted, "Your petition is based on Outlook's articles."
The Bench then ordered the magazine to reply within two weeks explaining its stance as to why the "point by point" rebuttal issued by Union Government was not published by it.
The CPIL had earlier filed a PIL alleging that the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which initially investigated the matter from April, 2005 to February, 2006, had collected incriminating material to pinpoint the role of several influential persons in the Scorpene deal but was refusing to share the inputs with the CBI.
Bhushan contended that the Scorpene deal and the Navy war room leak case were interlinked but the CBI, which took over investigations from the IB, was only seeking to probe the war room leak case and not the Scorpene deal scam with an apparent aim to bail out some influential persons.
The matter has been posted for further hearing to October three.
