CBI rebuked for putting pressure on witnesses in 2G case

The CBI was on Thursday rebuked by the 2G special court, which said the investigating agency did nothing for about a year after registering an FIR. Subsequently, it used "pressure" and recorded statements of witnesses, putting a question mark on fair investigation.

"There was no expeditious investigation in the case. After registration of the case, nothing was done for more than a year," special judge O P Saini said.

"It is surprising as to how many witnesses suddenly acquired all the knowledge of the case and became virtual goldmines of information. This puts a question mark on the truthfulness of the prosecution case and lends credence to the theory of pressure on witnesses," the court said.

The court noted that Department of Telecommunication officials - such as D S Mathur, A K Srivastava, K Sridhara, Nitin Jain, P K Mittal, R J S Kushvaha and D Jha - who deposed against the official record "kept on fumbling and gave evasive response, skirting the real issues".

"In the end, pressure on witnesses cannot be ruled out and this puts a question mark on fair investigation," the court said.