JOIN USCBI chief defends separate affidavits
CBI Director Ranjit Sinha has vigorously defended his decision to file separate individual counter-affidavits before the Supreme Court in petitions filed by the six accused seeking quashing of charges in the 2G spectrum scam.
Sinha came out with his defence after the then Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit, now appointed as judge of Supreme Court, raised objections to these affidavits.
“No time is appropriate to bring the truth before the Supreme Court,” Sinha said in a strong observation made in an internal note on the questions raised by Lalit over the matter being reconsidered by the CBI chief. Sinha said that while the trial before the special CBI court was underway, the chargesheeted accused in the case had filed writ petitions before the Supreme Court which issued notice to the CBI for filing a response.
“Later, when the concerned file was put up to me for perusal and post facto approval, I had the occasion to examine the matter at length and while going through the case records, I came across certain facts which were probably not addressed properly during the course of investigation,” Sinha said.
Sinha reasoned that the case of each of the petitioners stood on different footing and complete facts and that circumstances must be brought before the apex court.
DMK leader Kanimozhi, Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Shahid Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables had filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of all charges made by the CBI against them.
Defending his authority, Sinha said “as director of CBI, it is incumbent upon me to ensure that the investigation carried out by CBI is fair and free from bias, including the bias of public perception. Moreover, any relevant fact that comes to my notice even after the charge-sheet has been filed, and which may have bearing on the outcome of the case and which requires reconsideration can be looked into by me or any other officer of the CBI in the interest of justice.”