The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the states affected by the Telgi stamp scam to furnish details of the cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation within two weeks.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare and Justice S H Kapadia also gave three weeks to the CBI to say which cases it would investigate.

The Telgi Scam: The Full Coverage

The CBI, in its affidavit, told the court it was ready to take up only those cases that have interstate ramifications or those that have a bearing on national security. The other cases could be investigated by specially constituted investigation teams set up by the state governments.

It also told the court that since it did not have adequate manpower and other resources, the state governments should be directed to assist it in the investigations and provide necessary support.

Advocate Ajay Aggarwal, who had filed a special leave petition before the court, said the CBI did not press for withdrawal of a Karnataka government order invoking Article 268 prohibiting taking prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi out of a state prison for investigations. This would effectively mean that the CBI will have to work within the state government's matrix.

"This is strange because you cannot have piecemeal investigations in a case that has a bearing on national security. The CBI did not press for the withdrawal of the state government order. When we raised the issue the honourable judges said they would look into it five weeks later, when the matter comes up for hearing after the CBI files a fresh affidavit," Aggarwal told rediff.com