New Delhi The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cannot equate itself with the “Republic of India”, the Supreme Court observed on Friday, taking umbrage at the federal agency filing petitions representing the republic.

“Why have you filed as the ‘Republic of India’? You are not representing the Union or the Republic,” a bench of justices AS Oka and Pankaj Mithal remarked as it came across a petition filed by the CBI as the “Republic of India”.

Addressing additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who was representing the agency in an appeal against the grant of bail in a CBI case, the bench said it is not proper for the agency to file petitions in the court as “Republic of India”. “You don’t represent the Union of India? You cannot file your petitions like that,” it told Bhati.

The bench then directed that the cause-title of the case will be altered by the registry of the court, omitting the words “Republic of India”. ASG Bhati conceded to the court’s directive.

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Under the law, the CBI is supposed to be an independent agency that can probe acts of illegalities in connection to instrumentalities or agencies of both Centre and state governments.

In November 2021, the Centre had objected to a suit filed by the West Bengal Government making the Union of India, and not the CBI, party when the latter challenged the agency’s jurisdiction to register FIRs and conduct investigations in the state in several cases. The Centre maintained that it has no authority to rattle the autonomy of the CBI to conduct investigations, adding the CBI is an “autonomous body” with the government having no control over it.

According to the Supreme Court website, there are more cases filed by the CBI in the capacity as the “Republic of India”, appealing against the grant of bail, quashing of charges, and some interim orders in cases registered and investigated by the federal agency.

The bench was hearing CBI’s appeal against the grant of bail to Subhra Kundu, a former actress and wife of Gautam Kundu – the owner of the chit fund company Rose Valley, connection with an alleged multi-crore scam that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating.

The ₹17,000 crore Rose Valley scam is reportedly the biggest in Bengal in terms of the money involved. In 2014, the Supreme Court asked CBI to investigate the scam and the role of influential people in money laundering in West Bengal. The group had allegedly floated a total of 27 companies for running the alleged chit-fund operations out of which only half a dozen was active. It is alleged that the firm had floated the scheme by promising inflated returns on investments between 8% and 27% to gullible investors in various states. Investigations in the case were carried out in West Bengal and Odisha.

In August 2022, the Orissa high court granted Subhra Kundu bail, which was challenged by CBI in the top court. Bhati argued that she was not arrested just because she is the wife of the main accused but because she had an active role to play in parking of the money collected from investors in a number of shell companies.

The bench, however, noted that she was arrested in January 2021 and had been incarcerated since. “Just because a trial is on, you cannot keep someone in jail forever without a conviction. We do not see anything wrong with this order. There are several conditions imposed on her to ensure there is no impediments in trial,” it told the ASG. The bench proceeded to dismiss CBI’s appeal, stating it finds no ground to interfere with the impugned order of the Orissa high court at this stage. It further clarified that the grant of bail will have no bearing on the merits of the case, and that the trial would be carried out in accordance with law.