Khushi
The Supreme Court, on Friday, has appointed Senior Advocate and Former Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh and Advocate Rajesh Batra as Special Public Prosecutors (SPP) in cases registered by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Coal scam.
Last year, a letter was written by Senior Advocate, RS Cheema seeking the Apex Court’s permission to withdraw from the responsibility of SPP in the cases filed by the ED.
After Senior Advocate RS Cheema expressed his desire to be relieved from the post of SPP, the Centre had suggested their names.
Accepting their names, a bench headed by CJI S A Bobde said “Though there was no consensus on the names of individuals, the learned counsel appearing on all sides unanimously agreed that this court should appoint a seasoned trial court lawyer of impeccable integrity and a designated senior advocate to guide him and conduct the proceedings.”
The bench also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian ordered, “Taking into account the above said criteria, we hereby appoint (i) Shri Maninder Singh, Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General of India; and (ii) Shri Rajesh Batra, Advocate as Special Public Prosecutors in the place of Shri R S Cheema.”
The Court has meanwhile allowed RS Cheema to be relieved from his duties once Maninder Singh and Rajesh Batra assume their charge.
