The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down a plea for the transfer of the high-profile Provident Fund scam to a court outside Ghaziabad, where it is currently pending.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati had urged the three-member Bench, headed by Justice D K Jain and including Justices V S Sirpurkar and G S Singhvi, to transfer the case to any designated CBI court in Delhi as the case was moving at a ‘snail’s pace’ at the Ghaziabad court.

The A-G also informed the Bench that the report of DNA and viscera samples of Ashustosh Asthana would be available in another 10 days. The bench granted time to the CBI to furnish the CFSL reports relating to DNA and viscera of Asthana by January 31, 2010.

Asthana, a treasury officer at the Ghaziabad court, was found dead at Dasna district jail in Ghaziabad where he was lodged after being arrested in connection with the PF scam.