JPC questions CBI Director on 2G prosecutor's removal

New Delhi: CBI Director Ranjit Sinha was on Tuesday quizzed by Opposition members about the removal of the prosecutor in the 2G case during a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the scam.

Sinha is learnt to have told the Committee, chaired by P C Chacko, that the veracity of the purported taped conversations between CBI prosecutor A K Singh and Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra was yet to be established.

CBI had removed Singh from the 2G spectrum case A K Singh after he was caught in an alleged taped conversation discussing prosecution strategy with Chandra.

As Sinha appeared before the JPC examining the alleged irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum, questions on the removal of Singh were first put to him by opposition members.

The CBI chief's testimony was slated as one of the last presentations to the JPC along with that of Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar.

Some members of the JPC wondered whether the counter-intelligence mechanism of the CBI had failed as the taped conversation was received by the agency from a third entity.

Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said receiving the taped conversation from a person outside the agency raised serious concerns over national security as it meant that private individuals were now tapping phone calls, a matter which was earlier the exclusive domain of the government.

The CBI Director told the Committee that prima facie the voices on the tape were that of Singh and Chandra but the agency was awaiting authentication of the tapes by forensic experts.

Opposition members said the episode showed that the working of the CBI needed to be improved.

PTI