Industrialist Nusli Wadia will depose before a designated CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) court on August 12 in a 25-year old case of murder conspiracy against him. He will testify before the court about the possible motive behind the plan to kill him. In his application before the court in the past, he has already hinted at a ‘wider conspiracy’ which may have its roots in business rivalry.
Meanwhile, main accused Kirti Ambani has moved an application pleading that Mr Wadia’s statement be recorded in-camera. Mr Ambani was an executive of the Reliance Industries, who reported directly to Mukesh Ambani.
The court on Tuesday fixed the date for recording Mr Wadia’s evidence, after his lawyers told the court that he would be available in India between August 4 and August 15. Mr Wadia is an NRI (Non-Resident Indian).
However, the CBI pleaded inconvenience for any date between August 4 and August 11. The agency’s counsel said the Investigating Officer in the case was not available during those dates. Even the defence counsel sought a date after August 18.
The court however fixed the date for August 12, when Mr Wadia is expected to be examined by the CBI about the possible motive behind the conspiracy. The lawyers of the accused are then expected to cross-examine him.
Earlier, Mr Ambani had moved the Bombay High Court against the lower court’s order allowing Mr Wadia to depose. Mr Ambani had claimed that the deposition at such a later stage might be unfair for the accused.
The Bombay High Court had dismissed the application, upholding the lower court’s order. It had also refused to stay the decision for a few weeks to enable Mr Ambani to challenge it in the higher court. It had maintained that the lower court’s decision was “just”.
“The Courts exist to give justice and if the Court is bonafide of the opinion that the examination of the intended victim under Section 311 Cr.P.C is essential to the `just decision of the case', then the witness ought to be examined. The probative value of his evidence can be determined and considered after the same is recorded. A Court has a statutory duty to perform, a duty to determine the truth and to render a just decision, a hallmark of a criminal trial,” Justice Revati Mohite-Dere had said in the order passed last week.
