Delhi High Court on Friday quashed the Lokpal order granting sanction to the CBI to file a chargesheet against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the alleged cash-for-query scam.
A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar asked the Lokpal to re-examine the issue under the relevant provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act within a month. “We are of the considered opinion that the learned Lokpal has erred in its understanding and interpretation of the provisions of the Lokpal Act and resultantly, the impugned order dated 12.11.2025 is set aside,” the court said.
“The learned Lokpal is requested to accord its consideration for grant of sanction under Section 20 of the Lokpal Act, strictly in accordance with provisions thereof as construed hereinabove, within a period of one month from today.”
The order came on Moitra’s plea challenging the Lokpal's decision, arguing that there was a clear infirmity in the procedure adopted by the ombudsman. Moitra also sought to restrain the CBI from taking any further steps against her.
The court found that the Lokpal had exceeded the limits of its statutory jurisdiction, saying: “There was neither any necessity nor any legal permissibility for the learned Lokpal to consider any material beyond the investigation report and the written comments of the competent authority and the public servant.” It noted that the proceedings were not according to the Lokpal's functions. The court said that certain additional material by Moitra was not taken into consideration.
“Rather than adhering to the structured, sequential and exhaustive framework laid down by the legislature, the learned Lokpal has followed extraneous and impermissible procedures that find no support in the Lokpal Act,” the court said.
Moitra's counsel and senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta argued that Section 20(7)(a) of the Lokpal Act mandates that before according sanction for prosecution, the Lokpal is required to consider all material available on record, including the investigation report, comments of the competent authority, the response and documents placed by the public servant.