``Why the delay even after over two years of CBI investigations into the scam? Is there no information about their assets,'' a division bench comprising Justice S N Jha and S J Mukhopadhyay asked.

The CBI standing counsel, B K Shukla, however, told the court that the agency had already instituted cases against five accused, the former state officials -- S B Sinha, K M Prasad, Seshmuni Ram, O P Diwakar, and RJD MLA R K Rana for possessing disproportionate assets.

He said the agency would not hesitate in instituting cases relating to accumulation of disproportionate assets wherever there is sound evidence.

The court, however, took serious exception to institution of disproportionate asset cases against only five of over 300 accused, including politicians, involved in thescam.

Shukla said the CBI had already made significant progress in its investigation into the scam. It would be completed within six months as promised by the agency's director, Trinath Mishra, in an affidavit to the court on May 15.

``We have already given final touches to chargesheets in some cases... And final reports of investigation are being examined at different levels,'' he said.

The court directed the Income Tax department to cooperate with the CBI in carrying out investigations into the assets accumulated by the accused, disproportionate to their income.

The CBI counsel informed the court that the agency sleuths conducted country-wide raids on business and residential premises of the accused named in the new disproportionate asset case last month.

``Do you want us to institute another CBI inquiry into the matter...'' -- the judges said when the Income Tax department counsel, B B Ahuja, sought to dismiss the allegation by the petitioner's counsel Ravi Shanker Prasad.

Prasad, counsel forSushil Kumar Modi, Opposition leader in the State Assembly, who is one of the petitioners in the scam case, alleged that information about the raids were leaked.

The court asked the Income Tax counsel, Ahuja, to take up the matter relating to paucity of staff which was ``hampering'' the investigations.

The judges asked the income tax department to ``examine'' the RJD MP, Prem Gupta, whose houses and business premises were raided. Ahuja said summons had already been issued to Gupta by the department in this regard.

He said the department was in touch with the Enforcement Directorate in the cases relating to alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) by the scam accused.

Regarding the sanction to be accorded to the CBI to go ahead with prosecution of senior IAS officials, Mahesh Prasad, K Arumugam and Beck Julius, and the Income Tax official, A C Chaudhury, the counsel for Union of India, A K Tripathy told the court that the centre had already granted sanction for prosecution ofArumugam and Julius and was awaiting required documents for giving its nod for prosecuting Prasad and Chaudhury.

Scam accused surrenders