Patna, April 21: The high court today pulled up the CBI's deputy inspector-general for its affidavit filed in the court expressing inability to investigate alleged irregularities in paddy procurement in Bihar.

The court then directed the CBI director to file a counter affidavit on May 6 stating whether the affidavit filed by the CBI today was in knowledge of him or not and whether the same was filed with due approval from the agency headquarters.

The order was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice L. Narasimha Reddy and Justice Sudhir Singh on a PIL filed by one Shiv Prakash Rai seeking a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in procurement of paddy and delivery of rice from the millers.

The central agency, in its affidavit filed on Tuesday, expressed inability to investigate the case on the ground that the case is not fit for a CBI inquiry. The agency also cited lack of manpower and resources, owing to which it was not ready to take up the case for a probe.

This prompted the chief justice to say: "Is it you who will decide which case to investigate?" He further said: "This is the attitude of yours towards all these things. You have crossed all limits of propriety and legality."

Chief Justice Reddy asked Singh as to who decides whether the case is fit for a CBI inquiry or not, on which Singh replied: "It's the headquarter's legal office, which decides and he is only doing the job of a post office."

The CBI, in its affidavit, cited an earlier ruling of the Supreme Court in a case where the apex court had observed that assigning every case to the CBI would make the premiere investigating agency overburdened with cases and only if the high court deemed fit for a CBI inquiry, it should go ahead with the same.