File pic: CBI director Ranjit Sinha
Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan has filed a police complaint against CBI director Ranjit Sinha, accusing him of abusing his position at the top of India's main investigating agency to shield men accused in the 2G spectrum scam.
Mr Sinha was last week removed from the 2G scam investigation by the Supreme Court, which said there was "credible" information that he had been trying to subvert his own agency's inquiry on the telecom scandal.
The allegations against the CBI chief are based on a diary of visitors to his home, submitted by Mr Bhushan in September as proof that regular house calls were made by those named as the accused by the CBI.
In his complaint today, Mr Bhushan said the entries showed the CBI chief "having meetings, several of them late at night, at his residence, without any of the investigation officers being present, with several accused persons in prominent cases like 2G scam, coal scam, and with hawala operators like Mr. Moin Qureshi."
Mr Sinha has said that because his residence includes an office, he met with people who wanted to explain their defense. He denied any wrongdoing or attempt at subterfuge.
The Supreme Court has been monitoring the CBI's investigation since 2010 based on a petition by Mr Bhushan.
The CBI says that in 2008, then Telecom Minister A Raja took large bribes from firms who were given out-of-turn mobile network licenses; second-generation airwaves were attached to the licenses for no extra cost.
The entire swindle was worth 1.76 lakh crores, the national auditor said in a report in 2010 that ignited a national controversy.