The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the CBI to investigate all the alleged irregularities in the procurement of 111 advanced aircraft by Air India for Rs 67,000 crore between 2004 and 2008, when Praful Patel was the civil aviation minister.

A bench led by Chief Justice JS Khehar, while disposing of a PIL filed by civil society Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), said that the investigating agency should take into consideration all the allegations and take a call based on the evidence collected. “We hope and expect that the CBI will adhere to the timeframe (June this year),” given by attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi to give a final report. As and when a final determination is rendered, whether it is proceeding with the criminality or otherwise, it should be open to the party to take a recourse to any legal action if it wants, the CJI said, adding that “you must trust your agencies”.

When CPIL counsel Prashant Bhushan wanted the matter to be kept pending till the CBI filed its report, the bench said that “if there is anything amiss, it will be open to challenge. We don’t want to hold or twist their arms (CBI)”.

CPIL had sought CBI probe into the scam. It had alleged that that 111 aircrafts were purchased costing Rs 67,000 crore to just benefit foreign aircraft manufacturers and bilateral rights were given to foreign airlines without any reciprocal benefit to the carrier, which was also asked to give up its profitable routes.

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Seeking an enquiry into the purchase, the PIL had also questioned the role of aviation ministry in its loss of market-share due to giving up of profitable routes. Bhushan had also referred to a CAG report, which had stated that the decisions of the ministry do not “withstand audit scrutiny” and that the entire exercise was “a recipe for disaster ab initio” and “should have raised alarm signals in the government”.

Rohatgi told the court that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament had made also adverse remarks in its February 2014 report and is at present looking into the action taken report submitted by the civil aviation ministry in January 2015. He also said that the CBI has already filed an FIR and is likely to file its investigation report on some issues in June.

The AG told the bench that the courts should refrain from commenting on the PAC and the CAG reports as the two authorities are only accountable to Parliament.