The bench comprising Justices I A Ansari and Indira Shah said: “We hereby...set aside and quash the impugned Resolution, dated 01.04.1963, whereby CBI has been constituted... We do hold that the CBI is neither an organ nor a part of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) and the CBI cannot be treated as a ‘police force' constituted under the DSPE Act, 1946,” the court said.
It further said the aforementioned home ministry resolution was “not the decision of the Union Cabinet nor were these executive instructions assented to by the President”.
“Therefore, the impugned Resolution...can, at best, be regarded as departmental instructions, which cannot be termed as ‘law',” the judgement said.
The court then set aside and quashed the chargesheet, submitted by CBI, against Kumar, along with the trial. Further, the court said, “The actions of the CBI, in registering a case, arresting a person as an offender, conducting search and seizure, prosecuting an accused etc. offend Article 21 of the Constitution and are, therefore, liable to be struck down as unconstitutional.”
The court, however, said quashing of the proceedings that are pending in the CBI court would not be a bar to any further investigation by police having jurisdiction over the subject-matter.
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