Thursday, November 17, 2011

2G case: CBI to respond to allegations of trying to influence witnesses













New Delhi:  One of the 14 people being tried for criminal conspiracy in the telecom scam has alleged that the CBI is trying to influence witnesses.

The Delhi court handling the trial has asked the CBI to respond to the complaint by Wednesday.

Vinod Goenka, who was a Director with Swan Telecom, has said that the CBI should be asked to "refrain from interfering" with witnesses in "a suspicious manner" before they depose in court.

Swan has been accused of paying a 214-crore kickback to former Telecom Minister A Raja in exchange for an out-of-turn license.  Mr Raja is in jail.

"The CBI should be asked to refrain from secretly calling witnesses and showing them their statements," Mr Goenka's lawyer argued.

The complaint comes based on the testimony recorded yesterday by AN Sethuraman, who is the Group President of Reliance ADAG, owned by billionaire Anil Ambani. 

Mr Sethuraman, produced in court as a witness for the prosecution, said that he was called by the CBI to its office in a "suspicious manner" two days before the trial began on November 11.  Mr Sethuraman made the statement during his cross-examination. 

Reliance Infocomm has been accused of using Swan as a front to acquire more licenses and spectrum than was legally permissible.  Three senior Reliance-ADAG executives have been arrested and are among the 14 people being tried for the telecom scam - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

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