New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday
rejected MTNL Chairman-cum-Managing Director R S P Sinha's
request to give details of his phone calls intercepted by CBI
regarding his alleged involvement with a conduit in the tender
given to equipment supplier Motorola in 1999.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and
Justice S Muralidhar declined the request by Sinha saying "we
cannot give you anything about the calls".
Sinha is facing a CBI probe for allegedly favoring
Motorola India in the awarding of the tender. His present term
had ended on August 10, 2009, but was directed by the
Department of Telecom to continue till further orders.
Sinha is due to retire in October 2011.
The bench said "the nature of the calls were quite
different (from general work) and it does not befit the CMD of
a reputed company."
"Moreover, in one instance, three calls made by the CMD
on the same day," the court said.
The court was referring to Sinha's conversation with
Rajiv Gupta, an alleged middle man acting between MTNL and
Motorola, who had allegedly offered illegal gratification for
the PSU's tender.
Last week, CBI had handed over its report to the court in
a sealed envelope.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner
NGO Telecom Watchdog, also opposed Sinha's request and said
"he is not entitled to get any details of the call".
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 23:33