2G Trial live: Judge slams defence for 'irrelevant' questions

Note: The updates in this post are in reverse chronological order

New Delhi:3.40pm: Court adjourned till tomorrow.

3.17pm: The defense for Kalaignar TV Sharad Kumar has concluded his cross examination of Achary. He has alleged that when Achary supplied information to Pioneer newspaper, he violated a rule of conduct that prohibits a government servant from from giving out information.

2.55pm: Senior advocate Sushil Kumar, appearing for MD, Kalaignar TV, Sharad Kumar, begins questioning Achary.

2.30pm: Court resumes after lunch. The judge has asked the defence to wind up its cross examination. Earlier he warned the defence lawyer not to question the witness on details irrelevant to the case such as ownership of property and on repetition of details that have already been covered by the other defence lawyers. The judge says that such questions will be allowed at a heavy cost, and reminds defence that this is “not a property dispute”.

12.45pm: Achary tells court he was not aware that his conversation with lobbyist Niira Radia was being recorded. He also says he did not know that there were more tapes of similar nature. However he states that he was not shocked to hear the tapes when they were played to him.

12.30pm: The defense for Unitech wireless, an accused in the 2G scam, has charged that key prosecution witness Achary only ‘remembers’ what the CBI has told him to say and pleads ignorance or uncertainty when asked about other details.

12.20pm: Defence lawyer for Vinod Goenka, Majid Memon has concluded his cross examination of key prosecution witness Aseervatham Achary. Before he ended cross examination, Memon claimed one more time that the CBI wrote down Achary’s “statement” and attributed it to him, an allegation that Achary denies. Achary is now being questioned by the defence for Unitech wireless.

12.15pm: The prosecution asks Achary why he waited until 5 September to complain to the court that he thought someone was trying to kill him, when according to him, a stranger had tried to enter his residence in August. Achary said that though his security officer had asked him to complain, he had only done so when a second incident had taken place on 2 September, convincing him that the accused in the case were trying to intimidate him. However the judge steps in and tells the defence that they cannot cross examine the witness on an incident in court where the witness claimed a threat to his life.

12.02pm: As court resumes Achary is asked if he has any complaints pending against him anywhere. Achary says, “yes I’m not aware of details, but it has to do with disproportionate assets”.

11.33am: The defence claims that Achary’s CBI statement was ‘read out’ to the magistrate; a claim that Achary denies. The defence however insists that Achary had a copy of his statement when he was in the magistrate’s chambers. Achary requests a ten minute break.

11.25am: CBI witness Aseervatham Achary tells the court that he was perfectly satisfied with the manner in which the magistrate had recorded his statement, and has added that the fact that the magistrate asked him if he knew he was being bound by the truth before the statement was recorded, was as far as he knew, a qualification that he was being administered an oath. Achary adds that he had made his statement to the magistrate from memory.

11.15am: The CBI counsel has objected to Vinod Goenka’s defence lawyer Majid Memon asking key prosecution witness Aseervatham Achary to describe the interiors of the magistrates chamber in which he gave his statement, saying the questions were ‘unwanted’. Achary had earlier told the court that he had made his statement in magistrate Bhavna’s chamber.

11.09am: Key prosecution witness Achary tells court that after he recorded his statement at the court on 23 and 24 March, he was asked to come again the next day to “tell all these things to the magistrate”.

11.01am: Achary says he was called to give his statement to the CBI on two consecutive days. He says that after reading the statement the CBI recorded, he had been satisfied with it.

10.50am: The CBI counsel objects to the defence counsel’s line of questioning, telling the court that the defence cannot question the witness on the manner in which the CBI statement was recorded. However the defence counters that it has “the right to show that the investigation is tainted and unfair”. Cross examination continues.

10.40am: Achary is being cross examined about the events of 23 March 2011, when he was called by the CBI to give his statement. Defence lawyer Majid Memon asks Achary how in an earlier statement to court he claimed not to know a particular CBI officer, but later claimed to have called the same officer from his mobile phone. Achary stands by both statements, saying that while it was true he did not know that officer, he had been given his number with regards to making his statement.

10.20am: Achary is being questioned about his earlier statement to the court about Shahid Balwa and Sanjay Chandra having visited Raja’s office “more than 20 times”

**10.11am:**Court in session. Achary requests the defence to put questions to him slowly, given his health condition. Achary suffers from diabetes, and has been suffering from bouts of tiredness.

10.00am: Defence lawyer Majid Memon, representing DB Realty’s Vinod Goenka in the 2G scam trial, will cross examine CBI special witness Aseervatham Achary in court. Memon has a reputation for being a fierce cross examiner and is the seventh defence lawyer to cross examine Achary, who has so far managed to stand his ground.