LT COL H N TRIPATHI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The point of law on which the learned Judges constituting the Division Bench differed in their opinion is : whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (for short, CBI) constituted under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (for short, the 1946 Act) has jurisdiction to investigate cases under the Ranbir Penal Code and the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006 (for short the P.C. Act) and to file the final report before the Special Judge, Anti-Corruption in a case where one of the accused is an Indian Army Officer? Whereas Brother Bhat, J. held that it does not, Brother Sethi J. held otherwise. In view of this divergence of opinion the case has been referred to me.

(2.) The question being essentially legal, reference to some salient facts would suffice.

(3.) Mr. S. L. Koul, learned Counsel for the petitioner, firstly submitted that an officer of the CBI is not an officer competent to investigate the case within the meaning of Section 2-A of the P.C. Act which reads as under: