NEW DELHI, Nov 19: The CBI plea seeking to summon some additional prosecution witnesses, including Enforcement Directorate deputy director Rajeshwar Singh in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case involving former telecom minister A Raja and others, was today allowed by a Special Court.
“Application is allowed,” Special CBI judge O P Saini said.
The court had on November 11 reserved its order after hearing the arguments on the plea which was opposed by former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others who are facing trial in the case.
While Raja and Kanimozhi had questioned the legality of the CBI plea at the fag end of the trial, some of the other co-accused had argued that the agency’s intentions were malafide and it was delaying the trial as the evidence in the case has already been closed.
Special Public Prosecutor Anand Grover had argued that under provisions of the CrPC even after closing of evidence in a case, an application for summoning material witnesses was maintainable.
He had submitted that at this stage, the witnesses and documents which the agency wished to call were relevant and he would complete recording of evidence of these five witnesses in a week.
CBI had moved the plea seeking court’s permission to summon some prosecution witnesses and to place additional documents on record, saying they were necessary to arrive at the truth.
Besides Rajeshwar Singh, CBI has sought permission to call ED’s Assistant Director Satyendra Singh, Under Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Navil Kapur and bank official D Mani.
Apart from these four persons, the agency has sought to recall General Manager (Finance) of Kalaignar TV (P) Ltd G Rajendran, who had earlier deposed as a witness in the case, for further examination.
While opposing CBI plea, the defence counsel had argued that it was the “sinister design” and deliberate move of the agency to file it after the accused got their statements recorded in court and even the defence evidence has been completed.
The court had earlier issued notice to all the accused seeking their replies on CBI’s application after the agency had placed some additional information before the court.
It had said it would hear the submissions of the accused before deciding on the CBI plea.
In its plea, CBI said these persons were required to be examined as witnesses as some new facts have emerged in the investigation conducted by ED which had filed a separate charge sheet against 19 accused in a 2G scam-related money laundering case.
Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, former Telecom Secretary Sidharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, Reliance ADAG executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair are facing trial in the case.
Bollywood producer Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar and Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, are also facing trial.
Besides them, three telecom firms — Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd — are also accused in the case.
The court had on October 22, 2011, framed charges against them under various provisions of IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, criminal misconduct by public servant, taking bribe and abusing official position. (PTI)
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