Amid the heat of election rhetoric that has seen the Bofors gun deal being raked up, a special court here allowed the CBI to withdraw its plea seeking the court's nod to further probe the alleged Rs 64-crore kickbacks in the contract, days after chiding the agency for its needless application. The agency already has the power to re-investigate a case if it gets fresh evidence under section 173 (8) of the Criminal Procedure Code, yet it knocked the court's doors seeking permission, raising many eyebrows. The court also took note of the virtual U-turn of advocate Ajay Agarwal, who had filed a separate application before the court seeking further probe in the matter but wanted to withdraw his plea now. You have wasted time of the court with your application. The matter has been posted for arguments on July 6.

Source: dna May 17, 2019 00:00 UTC