Mumbai, June 30: Bombay High Court today pulled up the CBI for its slow probe into a Congress leader’s murder, alleged to have been masterminded by President Pratibha Patil’s brother.

Rajni, the widow of Vishram Patil, said in an affidavit that the agency was trying to protect those who had plotted her husband’s assassination — G.N. Patil, the President’s brother, and his aide Ulhas. The case had dogged Pratibha in the run-up to her election last year.

“We aren’t happy with the pace of the investigation. How much more time do you need?” the court said.

The CBI, which was assigned the case in February last year, has been asked to furnish details of how it planned to take the probe further at the next hearing on July 25.

Vishram was killed on September 21, 2005, six months after he had defeated Pratibha’s brother in a bitterly fought election to the post of Jalgaon Congress chief. The alleged killers, Raju Mali and Raju Sonawani, were arrested but Rajni accused G.N. Patil and Ulhas of hatching the conspiracy. The case was transferred to the CBI, after allegations of political pressure on police, on February 23, 2007. However, Mali died on April 7, a day before the sleuths arrived to record statements.

Mahesh Jethmalani, Rajni’s lawyer, said the call records of G.N. Patil and Ulhas, and fellow suspects Damodar Lokhande and Leeladhar Narkhede, showed they had spoken to Mali before the murder. He also cited that Mali’s wife Rekha had said the accused had paid his legal expenses.