NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Observing that there were number of loopholes in the investigations being carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the controversial case relating to Amarnath Kesri, son of Congress President Sitaram Kesri, for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, the Delhi High Court today asked the investigating agency to examine Amarnath to ascertain from where he acquired such property.

Directing the agency to examine whether offering bribe to sitting MLAs to get vote in his favour is an offense or not, a Division Bench comprising Justices Yashpal Singh and S K Sarin asked the CBI to file its report by August 14 when the matter would come up for further arguments.

Hearing a PIL filed by Madhuresh Kumar, a Patna-based journalist, the Bench asked the agency that it should ``pointedly ask Amarnath Kesri where did he get the money from'', and if he had no business of his own, ``from what source the money came from.''

Court's direction came in wake of petitioner's counsel Prashan Bhushan's submission that the court should appoint a retired investigating official of the CBI with known competence to probe the matter and also interrogate Amarnath Kesri, his wife, people in his household and immediate neighbours to ascertain the ``real'' source of income.

To the CBI contention that they had interrogated Amarnath Kesri twice, the court observed: ``Earlier your interrogations were based on a different angle that is to find out Kesri's involvement in the case. Now the agency should interrogate Amarnath Kesri to find out the source of his income.''Meanwhile, in an affidavit, the CBI said that there was nothing to establish that Amarnath Kesri got the money from his father. ``The agency had found no truth in all the allegations that Sitaram Kesri had amassed wealth through illegal means or that he had bribed MLAs during his election to the Rajya Sabha,'' additional solicitor general Altaf Ahmed, arguing for the CBI told the Bench.

``From investigation which included the interrogation of 12 out of the 22 MLAs who have been named by the petitioner, there was nothing to state that the Congress president was involved in the case,'' the affidavit said.At one point of time, the Bench turned down Bhushan's suggestions saying that the agency was doing its job and any step will reflect on the reputation of the agency as a whole. The Bench has asked Bhushan to suggest the future line of investigation to be adopted by the agency if he wanted the matter to be probed.

Terming CBI's inquiry into the case as an eye-wash, Bhushan contended that the agency was not genuine in its attempts.

He further alleged that ``the way the investigation was going on, nothing is going to come out of it.'' Bhushan further contended that besides interrogation of the family members and other relatives of Amarnath Kesri, the investigating agency should obtain the income tax department's inquiry report which states that Sitaram Kesri and his other relatives have acquired wealth disproportionate to their known source of income.

The CBI should also probe the bank accounts of the MLAs, who were alleged to have received the illegal gratification from Kesri, Bhushan submitted.He contended that even if one goes into the evaluation of Sitaram Kesri's all immovable properties and assets, it would be found to be disproportionate to his income since he had throughout his life been only a legislator or a Member of Parliament.

He alleged that the CBI investigation has many a loophole as it has not inquired about the various wealth amassed by Kesri like the two houses, three plots of land and a house under construction, which has not been searched as yet.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.