New Delhi: CBI has moved a special court here seeking its permission to summon some persons as prosecution witnesses, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) Deputy Director Rajeshwar Singh, in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case.
CBI, in its plea, said that these persons were required to be examined as witnesses in the ongoing trial as some new facts have emerged in the investigation conducted by the ED which has recently filed a separate charge sheet against 19 accused in a 2G scam related money laundering case.
The probe agency also referred to the order passed by the Supreme Court on November 27, 2012 in which it had asked CBI, Income Tax department and the ED to work together and share information pertaining to the 2G spectrum cases.
"During the aforesaid trial, a complaint was filed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) with regard to the proceeds of crime from the scheduled offence that are under trial in the present case," CBI said in its plea filed before Special CBI Judge O P Saini.
It further said, "cognisance was taken in the matter and the complaint is now pending arguments on charge before this court. However, it has been found that some of the material discovered during the investigation conducted by the ED may have a bearing upon the present trial."
"Therefore, to place the whole truth of the matter and for a just decision in this case, it is necessary to bring this new material on record of this court...," it said in its plea which would be heard on September 1.
Besides Rajeshwar Singh, CBI has sought court's permission to call ED's Assistant Director Satyendra Singh, Under Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Navil Kapur and bank official D Mani.
Apart from these four persons, the agency has sought to recall General Manager (Finance) of Kalaignar TV (P) Ltd G Rajendran, who had earlier deposed as a witness in the case, for further examination.
CBI, in its plea, said, "To arrive at the truth, and for the just decision in the case, it is necessary to summon some more persons not previously cited in the list of prosecution witnesses to depose before this court...,"
It further said that in February this year, a preliminary enquiry (PE) was commenced by it into new allegations levelled by advocate Prashant Bhushan.
"However, during the said PE, certain new material was discovered that may have a bearing upon the present case. Therefore, to place the whole truth of the matter and for a just decision in this case, it is necessary to bring this new material on record of this court...," it said.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, former telecom secretary Sidharath Behura, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Raja's erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, Reliance ADAG executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair are facing trial in the case.
Besides them, Bollywood producer Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar and Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, are also facing trial in the case.
Besides these 14 accused, three telecom firms-- Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd-- are also accused in the case.
The court had on October 22, 2011 framed charges against them under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servants and taking bribe.
Raja, Kanimozhi, Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Rajiv Agarwal, Karim Morani and Sharad Kumar, along with others, were also chargesheeted by the ED in the money laundering case.
