The CBI Friday moved the Supreme Court for lodging a criminal case of perjury against advocate Kamini Jaiswal, who is the secretary of the NGO that accused agency’s director Ranjit Sinha of attempting to protect a few influential accused in the 2G scam.
Sinha has been in the midst of a controversy over leaked documents that showed details of visitors, including representatives of companies involved in the 2G telecom spectrum and coal block allocation cases, meeting him at his residence.
The agency has demanded an FIR against Jaiswal for allegedly making “deliberate and intentional false statements on oath” before the court by filing an affidavit in the capacity of the authorised signatory for the NGO CPIL. CPIL had last week filed an affidavit seeking recusal of Sinha from participating in the 2G probe.
Meanwhile, Prashant Bhushan, who argues for the NGO in the cases, has written to PM Narendra Modi, requesting removal of Sinha and asking for “appropriate disciplinary and criminal action for abusing his official position to protect the accused involved in high profile corruption cases”.
The CBI’s application before a bench led by Justice H L Dattu has said Jaiswal had also filed affidavit for Sinha’s impleadment in the matter by making identical allegations, which are punishable under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 193, for leading false evidence. The court is likely to take up this plea on Monday
The agency denied allegations against the CBI Director of interfering with the probe in Aircel-Maxis deal, allegedly involving former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, or keeping away Santosh Rastogi, a CBI officer, from the 2G cases.
It further countered CPIL’s contention that Sinha as the Director was “admonished” by the SC in the coal scam for sharing probe details with political persons.
“The application is clearly mischievous and is based upon untrue facts in which mis-statements have been deliberately made so as to obtain favourable orders from this court,” the CBI said while accusing CPIL of making wrong allegations that attempt has been made at the behest of Sinha to save Maran in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
It said the charges about the “Director overruling his own investigating officers (on filing chargesheet in Aircel case) are clearly false”. “Hence a case of perjury needs to be registered,” said the CBI.
“Rastogi was neither the lead investigator nor was transferred out of 2G investigation nor relieved. Rastogi is only a supervisory officer, who joined as the head of Anti-Corruption Branch, Delhi, on October 30, 2012 much after filing of the chargesheet when the trial in the case has begun,” the CBI said.
Meanwhile, Bhushan, as asked by the court, also filed on Friday a supplementary affidavit seeking actions against Sinha over the contentious visitors’ logbook at his Delhi residence.
Indian Express| September 6, 2014
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