The 2G court on Monday fixed April 4 for recording the statements of accused, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and some top corporate executives, in the 2G scam cases.
Special CBI Judge OP Saini, who was scheduled to record the statements of the accused on Monday, posted it for April 4, saying “only half of the work is over” as preparing questions to be asked from the accused was a lengthy process.
The judge, however, said he would give sets of questions to the accused on April 4 so that they could file their written response within a week. “The other case (against promoters of Essar Group and loop Telecom) is also listed for April 4. I will be done (preparing the questions) by then in both the cases. I will give the questions to both the parties and they will submit their written replies within one week,” the judge said.
The special judge also said, “I am trying to prepare the questions in such a manner that your (accused) work will be done in half-an-hour.” The court had on November 27, 2013, concluded recording of statements of CBI witnesses in the case after the deposition of CBI’s SP Vivek Priyadarshi, the chief investigating officer, got over.
The court has recorded statements of 153 CBI witnesses, including Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani, former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and A-G GE Vahanvati, running into over 4,400 pages in the case involving Raja and 16 others.
The court had also concluded recording of evidence of CBI witnesses in the case arising out of the investigation into the 2G scam involving the promoters of Essar Group, loop Telecom and others.
During the recording of evidence in the case against promoters of Essar Group and loop Telecom, the court has recorded statements of 95 CBI witnesses, running into 1,056 pages.
The stage for the start of the trial on November 11, 2011 was set after the court had framed charges against the 17, including three telecom firms, named in the first two charge sheets, saying there was sufficient prima facie evidence against them. The proceedings in the case, conducted by the special CBI court set up exclusively to deal with the 2G spectrum case, are also being monitored by the Supreme Court.