New Delhi – The Supreme Court has said that a CBI inquiry should not be ordered by the constitutional courts in a routine manner and must be exercised sparingly and cautiously.

A bench of justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi made the observations while setting aside an order of the Allahabad High Court which directed a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process for the Uttar Pradesh legislative council staff.

The top court said the exercise of inherent powers to direct the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate must be exercised sparingly, cautiously, and only in exceptional situations.

“This court has consistently cautioned that a CBI investigation should not be directed as a matter of routine or merely because a party casts certain aspersions or harbours a subjective lack of confidence in the state police.

“The concerned court must be satisfied that the material placed prima facie discloses commission of offences and necessitates a CBI investigation to ensure the fundamental right to a fair and impartial investigation, or where the complexity, scale, or national ramification of such allegations demands expertise of a central agency,” the bench said.

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