2G case: Accused have filed 1,029 pleas filed till date
Irked by over 1,000 interim pleas of high-profile accused in 2G spectrum allocation scam trial, a Delhi court on Monday said it is being done to “waste” its precious time and to “force” it to disclose its mind in advance on some crucial issues related to the case.
The court also said that till date, 1,029 applications have been filed by the accused facing trial in the case and it seems that they wish to “sink and bury” the court under the “weight of documents.”
The remarks came while deciding separate pleas filed by two accused seeking summoning of some documents from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) relating to the issues of telecom licences and pricing of spectrum and others.
“Now the question is: why such applications are being filed repeatedly by these accused? The answer is that accused wish to force the court to disclose its mind in advance on some crucial issues one way or the other by forcing the court to decide repeated applications,” Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini said.
“Another reason is that these accused wish to drown out, sink and bury the court under the weight of documents, relevant or irrelevant, as some of them have been constantly filing such applications despite knowing the fact that entire material, relevant or irrelevant, immediate or distant, relating to issues in question has already come on record,” the court said.
It also said a large number of documents have been placed on record at the request of the accused persons and this process “cannot go on endlessly.”
“The third reason for filing such applications is to keep the court occupied and, thus, waste the precious time of the court so that the court is not able to devote its time to the relevant record of the case, running into lakhs of pages and thereby to delay the trial,” it said.
“I may add that accused persons have filed 1029 number of applications, big or small, till date…,” the judge said.
Former Telecom Minister A. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, several top corporate executives and three companies are facing trial in the case.
The court, while dismissing the pleas filed by Raja’s then private secretary R.K. Chandolia and private company executive Rajiv Agarwal, said they have filed 37 and 84 pleas respectively till date and “the number of applications itself shows why such a large number of applications have been filed, that is, just to delay the trial.”
It also held the documents, sought by the accused, were not relevant as all the documents, whether connected with the case immediately or remotely, have already been summoned and placed on record.
The court, in its separate order, also dismissed the plea filed by private firm executive Asif Balwa, who is also facing trial in the case, for summoning 11 CBI witnesses for further cross-examination.
“Accordingly, I have carefully gone through each and every testimony of the witnesses, referred to in the application and for the reasons mentioned above, I do not find any reason to summon any of the witnesses. In relation to all witnesses, I may say that either the documents were already on record or only certified copies from banks have been tendered,” it said.
The judge also said the plea was “filed just to waste the time of the court” and Asif Balwa has filed 71 pleas till date.
“The above discussion clearly indicates that the application has been filed to keep the court busy in unnecessary work. I had to devote more than five hours to go through the entire record to dispose of the application. I sincerely hope that the accused would desist in future from filing such frivolous applications,” the judge said.
The court had on November 27 concluded the recording of statements of prosecution witnesses in the case and the matter is now fixed for January 20 for recording the statements of accused.
The court has recorded statements of 153 CBI witnesses, including Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani, former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati, running into over 4,400 pages in the case involving Raja and 16 others.
The court had on October 22, 2011, framed charges against these 17 accused under IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribe.
The offences entail punishment ranging from six months in jail to life imprisonment.
The court, while dismissing the pleas filed by Raja’s then private secretary R.K. Chandolia and private company executive Rajiv Agarwal, said they have filed 37 and 84 pleas respectively till date and “the number of applications itself shows why such a large number of applications have been filed, that is, just to delay the trial.”
It also held the documents, sought by the accused, were not relevant as all the documents, whether connected with the case immediately or remotely, have already been summoned and placed on record.
The court, in its separate order, also dismissed the plea filed by private firm executive Asif Balwa, who is also facing trial in the case, for summoning 11 CBI witnesses for further cross-examination.
“Accordingly, I have carefully gone through each and every testimony of the witnesses, referred to in the application and for the reasons mentioned above, I do not find any reason to summon any of the witnesses. In relation to all witnesses, I may say that either the documents were already on record or only certified copies from banks have been tendered,” it said.
The judge also said the plea was “filed just to waste the time of the court” and Asif Balwa has filed 71 pleas till date.
The above discussion clearly indicates that the application has been filed to keep the court busy in unnecessary work. I had to devote more than five hours to go through the entire record to dispose of the application. I sincerely hope that the accused would desist in future from filing such frivolous applications,” the judge said.
The court had on November 27 concluded the recording of statements of prosecution witnesses in the case and the matter is now fixed for January 20 for recording the statements of accused.
The court has recorded statements of 153 CBI witnesses, including Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani, former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and Attorney General G E Vahanvati, running into over 4,400 pages in the case involving Raja and 16 others.
The court had on October 22, 2011, framed charges against these 17 accused under IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribe.
The offences entail punishment ranging from six months in jail to life imprisonment.
