New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister A Raja
on Friday expressed reluctance in starting his defence on charges
in the 2G spectrum scam till the probe against him is
completed by the CBI.
"My sincere and only apprehension is that I should not
be forced to place my arguments (on charges) before the court
at this stage," Raja told Special CBI Judge O P Saini while
contending that the agency could use the information against
him in its third charge sheet.
He told the court hearing submissions on the schedule
for argument on charges that the CBI is still investigating
the role of various telecom operators in the case and they
could be possibly made accused.
"So far as investigation is concerned, so far as I am
concerned, investigation is still going on," Raja said.
All the other accused in the case, including Swan
Telecom Promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, also reiterated the same
and accused CBI of not supplying the documents to them in an
expeditious manner.
The court told the defence counsel and the CBI to
complete the process of supply and scrutiny of documents at
the earliest.
"Do whatever you do. You are at liberty. Please
complete it (the scrutiny of documents) at the earliest," the
judge said adding that the tentative date for commencement of
argument on the charges would be July 20.
Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit assured the court
that they would do everything possible to quickly complete the
scrutiny of documents.
The judge has now listed July 19 for review on the
process of scrutiny of documents so that arguments on the
charges could be started.
The high-profile accused in the 2G case had yesterday
accused the agency of delaying the proceedings for framing of
charges and thereby frustrating their chances of securing
bail.
They had alleged that the CBI was filing additional
documents to delay the proceedings.
PTI
