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Defence opposes CBI’s ‘extra’ documents
Defence counsels in the 2G scam case on Wednesday opposed the filing of fresh documents by the CBI, including letters exchanged between Trai and the department of telecom (DoT) during his tenure.
Just before former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Nripendra Misra was to depose as a prosecution witness on Wednesday, a defence counsel said, “The prosecution cannot take the court and the defence for granted. It is mala fide on the prosecution’s part to file documents related to a witness’s deposition just a day ahead of that witness’s testimony before the court.”
The agency had, on Tuesday, filed some documents relating to Misra, including Trai files, correspondence between Misra and former telecom secretaries Behura, DS Mathur and others on issues of licences and spectrum allocation.
Counsels of former Telecom Minister A Raja and Behura objected, saying the agency has not given proper reasons as to why it has filed these documents, related to Misra, just a day before his deposition as a witness.
Raja’s advocate Sushil Kumar told Special Judge OP Saini, “The CBI has shown these documents to the witness (Misra) while recording his statement way back in March 2011 but they have not been provided to us. The documents were seized a day after registration of FIR in October 2009 but not filed along with chargesheets.”
Behura’s counsel SP Minocha contended that the CBI’s plea was against the principles of law and was not maintainable.
The court has listed the matter for Thursday. The court adjourned recording of statement of Misra after both the CBI and the defence counsel agreed to first decide on this issue.
CBI prosecutor AK Singh said the agency was entitled to file additional documents seized earlier, which could not be filed with the chargesheet. “This court has earlier passed an order in this regard,” Singh said. The defence asked for at least a day to file a detailed reply.
Defence counsels in the 2G scam case on Wednesday opposed the filing of fresh documents by the CBI, including letters exchanged between Trai and the department of telecom (DoT) during his tenure.
Just before former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Nripendra Misra was to depose as a prosecution witness on Wednesday, a defence counsel said, “The prosecution cannot take the court and the defence for granted. It is mala fide on the prosecution’s part to file documents related to a witness’s deposition just a day ahead of that witness’s testimony before the court.”
The agency had, on Tuesday, filed some documents relating to Misra, including Trai files, correspondence between Misra and former telecom secretaries Behura, DS Mathur and others on issues of licences and spectrum allocation.
Counsels of former Telecom Minister A Raja and Behura objected, saying the agency has not given proper reasons as to why it has filed these documents, related to Misra, just a day before his deposition as a witness.
Raja’s advocate Sushil Kumar told Special Judge OP Saini, “The CBI has shown these documents to the witness (Misra) while recording his statement way back in March 2011 but they have not been provided to us. The documents were seized a day after registration of FIR in October 2009 but not filed along with chargesheets.”
Behura’s counsel SP Minocha contended that the CBI’s plea was against the principles of law and was not maintainable.
The court has listed the matter for Thursday. The court adjourned recording of statement of Misra after both the CBI and the defence counsel agreed to first decide on this issue.
CBI prosecutor AK Singh said the agency was entitled to file additional documents seized earlier, which could not be filed with the chargesheet. “This court has earlier passed an order in this regard,” Singh said. The defence asked for at least a day to file a detailed reply.
