The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal. The PIL was filed by advocate Prashnat Bushan alleging that Sibal bent the rules to favour Anil Ambani and his Reliance Communications.

The plea against Sibal said that he arbitrarily downsized the penalty imposed upon Mr Ambani for violating the terms of a contract. The controversy lies not just in the allegations against Mr Sibal, but in his decision to use a private lawyer - Rohinton Nariman - to defend himself. That move prompted Solicitor General Gopal Subaramaniam to resign.

Mr Bhushan had sought to make this PIL a part of the larger case on the 2G telecom scam which has caused a political earthquake in India, causing the resignation of two telecom ministers, one of who is now in jail, and the arrests of some of India''s senior-most executives in the telecom sector. The investigation is based on another PIL filed by Mr Bhushan.

The court today said, "If there is an illegal action then whosoever has a locus can challenge it. This can't be linked. We are only concerned that the CBI's investigation is in the right course. Whether decision of a minister is right or wrong, it can be a separate issue."