Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had filed a petition in the Himachal Pradesh High Court pleading that the searches on his private residences was done due to political vendetta.
The Supreme Court today transferred from Himachal Pradesh High Court to Delhi High Court a plea filed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
A bench of justices FMI Kalifulla and UU Lalit said it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case but "simply" transferring the petition to the Delhi High Court "in the interest of justice and to save the institution (judiciary) from any embarrassment."
The apex court also ordered deletion of allegations and counter allegations made by either parties against the high court judge and the counsel representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Mr Singh, opposed the transfer saying it would send a wrong message that the state High Court is not fit enough to hear this case.
Rejecting the submissions, the bench said it would not deal with any aspect of the matter and simply refer it to Delhi High Court by invoking its extraordinary constitutional authority in the interests of justice.
Earlier, the apex court had sought responses from Mr Singh and others on two petitions filed by CBI against the High Court order granting protection from arrest and other relief to him and his wife in the case.
The bench, however, had not granted interim stay on the October 1 order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which had restrained CBI from arresting Mr Singh and his wife in the DA case but had allowed the enquiry in the matter to proceed.
The high court had also directed CBI to keep the court informed before interrogating the couple.
The chief minister had filed a petition in the high court pleading that the searches on his private residence and other premises were conducted with "malafide intentions and political vendetta" by the central investigating agency.
The Delhi High Court is also hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by NGO, Common Cause, alleging that Mr Singh had received unaccounted money to the tune of nearly Rs 5 crore.
It also referred to his revised IT returns for 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 and claimed that it showed an increase in agricultural income to the tune of Rs 6.10 crore.
The Income Tax department, in its status report filed in the Delhi High Court, had contended that it has the locus standi to probe the matter as the properties under question were also located in the national capital.