NEW DELHI, Dec 13: A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir today said it cannot adjudicate the plea of 2G case accused for recall of orders of another bench which had stayed the proceedings on all petitions linked to the spectrum case before the Delhi High Court.
“Let the matter be sent before the same bench,” the bench, also comprising justices S S Nijjar and J Chelameswar said.
It expressed reservation in hearing the plea of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and other accused for stay of the April 11, 2011 and November 9, 2012 orders of a special bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi which had directed that no court other than the apex court shall entertain any application relating to the case.
The accused have also questioned the authority of the bench for monitoring developments in the case after filing of the charge sheets contending that it was against the guidelines of the apex court which had clearly stated that the monitoring of the case comes to an end with filing of the charge sheet.
“We can only ask another bench to deal with the matter and decide,” the bench told their counsel Ram Jethmalani, who argued the orders violated the principle of natural justice as they were passed without hearing the accused persons.
The hour-long hearing started with heated exchange between the CJI and advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented the NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), on whose PIL along with the petition of Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, the apex court had quashed the licences for the 2G spectrum and had ordered the CBI probe into the scam.
Bhushan too wanted to be heard, but the CJI said CPIL cannot be allowed to be impleaded in the matter as there was no “certificate of authorisation” for Bhushan to appear for it in the case.
The bench did not agree with Bhushan that under the rules regulating the society, he being the general secretary of the NGO was entitled to file petitions on its behalf.
The bench was of the view that the authorisation certificate for appearing in the matter has to be issued by the governing body of the NGO.
The advocate said he was finding it as an “extra-ordinary” situation in the court.
After brief exchange, the bench said “kindly show us authorisation, we will hear you.”
It commenced the hearing of the plea of accused, asking CBI counsel K K Venugopal to make submissions on his objection from hearing the petition.
Venugopal said the plea for recall of orders of another bench was “not maintainable” as the special bench which passed an ex-parte order had issue notices to them seeking their response.
Jethmalani, however, said the petition was maintainable as it was relating to the fundamental rights of persons to seek redressal from courts.
The bench said such redressal can be sought from the bench which was dealing with the matter.
Besides Balwa, others who have approached the apex court are Vinod Goenka, promoter of Swan Telecom, Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal (both directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd). (PTI)
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