The high court, in its order, had said “the CBI shall, without any further loss of time, concretize action, including custodial interrogation, against all persons found involved in terms of material on record.”

Questioning the order, which required the IO not to take instruction from his superiors by branding such instructions as “incompetent”, Vahanvati said the directions which require the IO to treat those by his superiors as ineffective strike at the very root of the criminal justice system of the country. They also go against the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The agency has also objected to taking over of the case diary by the high court for monitoring the case.

The solicitor-general told the court that CBI had already taken action and arrested persons named by Sabeena, whose allegations have been corroborated by other girls/women involved in the case.