Arguments over supply of the entire set of documents the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had submitted along with the charge sheet in the 2G spectrum scam case concluded on Wednesday, with defence sticking to its stand that it was entitled to all documents for ensuring a fair trial to its clients.
Defence has been demanding that it be given all pages of documents 132 to 356, submitted along with the charge sheet, which comprise the UAS licence applications of telecom companies and certified true copies of the issued UAS licences, besides documents which were not submitted with the charge sheet but relied upon for investigation like the Radia tapes.
Counsel for Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB), A. Raja, R.K. Chandolia, Sanjay Chandra and Unitech Wireless argued forcefully for the supply of the documents but the CBI opposed their plea, stating that defence was entitled only to sections of the documents that were relevant to the charge sheet, and relied upon by the CBI and not entire pages of each document.
“Apprehensive”
S.S. Gandhi, counsel for Unitech Wireless, and Ramesh Gupta, counsel for Mr. Raja, said they could not understand the reluctance of the CBI to supply the documents. “The accused are apprehensive that they are not getting a fair trial,” Mr. Gupta said.
Sushil Bajaj, counsel for Sanjay Chandra, specifically referred to PW-44 in the case — corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's statement recorded by the CBI was based on tapes that allegedly had her in conversation with a number of people including some of the accused in the case.
“Unless we are given a copy of the tapes or transcripts, how do I test the veracity of her statement? How do I cross-examine this witness?” Mr. Bajaj asked Special Judge O.P. Saini.
Advocates for the accused complained that giving them just “two or three paragraphs of relevant sections” of 100-page documents would not help them build their case.
CBI Senior Public Prosecutor A.K. Singh said: “We have not concealed any documents. They may be inspected. As per Section 207 of the Criminal Procedure Code we have supplied all relevant sections that are against the accused.”
