2G scam case: Raja, Kanimozhi ask court for time to reply to CBI's plea

New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and 15 other accused facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, today sought time in a Delhi court to respond to CBI’s plea for summoning some additional witnesses, including Enforcement Directorate Deputy Director Rajeshwar Singh, in the matter. Special CBI Judge OP Saini allowed the oral submissions of the accused and fixed the matter for October 9 for filing of replies of the accused. During the hearing, counsel for the accused sought the court’s direction to CBI to supply them the copies of documents on the basis of which the agency was seeking summoning of additional prosecution witnesses in the case. The court had earlier issued notices to all the accused seeking their replies on CBI’s application after the agency had placed some new facts before the court. [caption id=“attachment_1672965” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A Raja. Agencies[/caption] The court had said it would hear the submissions of the accused before deciding on CBI’s plea. CBI had moved the application seeking the court’s permission to summon some prosecution witnesses and to place additional documents on record saying they were necessary to arrive at the truth. Besides Rajeshwar Singh, CBI has sought 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. In its plea, CBI has said these persons were required to be examined as witnesses as some new facts have emerged in the investigation conducted by ED which recently filed a separate chargesheet against 19 accused in a 2G scam-related money laundering case. The court has closed the defence evidence in the case and fixed the matter for November 10 for hearing final arguments. Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, 12 individuals and three companies are facing trial in the case. Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, former Telecom Secretary Sidharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary RK 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. 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. Besides them, three telecom firms – Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd – are also accused in the case. Raja, Kanimozhi, Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Rajiv Agarwal, Karim Morani and Sharad Kumar, along with others, were also chargesheeted by ED in the money laundering case. PTI