Thursday, 29 September 2011
Home minister P. Chidambaram, the Supreme Court
the CBI to submit government documents touching upon the minister's role in the 2G spectrum allocation for scrutiny.
A bench comprising Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly directed the CBI to produce finance ministry documents, along with former finance secretary D. Subbarao's statement on the basis of which the agency had given a clean chit to Chidambaram in the 2G scam case.
Opposing Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy's demand for a probe into the role of Chidambaram during his earlier stint as finance minister, the CBI had stated that all documents submitted by Swamy had already been considered as they formed the subject matter of Subbarao's statement recorded by the investigating agency.
Even though the CBI had stated in clear terms on Tuesday that no case was made out against Chidambaram, the court did not seem to have taken the statement at face value. Soon after the bench assembled for the hearing on Wednesday, it asked the CBI to make available the file containing the statement of Subbarao, who is now the RBI Governor.
While the finance ministry's official memorandum of March 25, 2011 has placed Chidambaram in the middle of a political storm, the Supreme Court has sought only those documents which were relied upon by the CBI during investigation.
CBI counsel K.K. Venugopal had virtually ruled out any probe against Chidambaram by stating that all documents submitted by Swamy had already been considered by the investigating agency. "According to us, all documents are the subject matter of the statement by RBI Governor (former finance secretary) D. Subbarao," he said.
Earlier, Venugopal had even read Subbarao's statement to show that it made references to the documents on the basis of which Swamy wanted a probe against Chidambaram.
"Except the memorandum by Pranab Mukherjee, all documents were with us," he said.
With the CBI apparently giving a clean chit to the home minister on the basis of explanations given by Subbarao, Swamy had on Tuesday itself objected to the investigating agency heavily relying on the former finance secretary's statement to draw conclusions.
"There are a large number of documents for which they (the CBI) are relying on Subbarao's statement… The court should summon the documents for scrutiny," Swamy had said.
Venugopal had already stated earlier in court that the agency had considered the documents. But, the issue cropped up once again on Tuesday. This was after a reference was made to the government's statement that the CBI would "naturally" consider the "new documents" filed before the apex court.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cbi-clean-chit-to-chidambaram-supreme-court-seeks-2g-related-papers/1/152994.html
A bench comprising Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly directed the CBI to produce finance ministry documents, along with former finance secretary D. Subbarao's statement on the basis of which the agency had given a clean chit to Chidambaram in the 2G scam case.
Even though the CBI had stated in clear terms on Tuesday that no case was made out against Chidambaram, the court did not seem to have taken the statement at face value. Soon after the bench assembled for the hearing on Wednesday, it asked the CBI to make available the file containing the statement of Subbarao, who is now the RBI Governor.
While the finance ministry's official memorandum of March 25, 2011 has placed Chidambaram in the middle of a political storm, the Supreme Court has sought only those documents which were relied upon by the CBI during investigation.
CBI counsel K.K. Venugopal had virtually ruled out any probe against Chidambaram by stating that all documents submitted by Swamy had already been considered by the investigating agency. "According to us, all documents are the subject matter of the statement by RBI Governor (former finance secretary) D. Subbarao," he said.
Earlier, Venugopal had even read Subbarao's statement to show that it made references to the documents on the basis of which Swamy wanted a probe against Chidambaram.
"Except the memorandum by Pranab Mukherjee, all documents were with us," he said.
With the CBI apparently giving a clean chit to the home minister on the basis of explanations given by Subbarao, Swamy had on Tuesday itself objected to the investigating agency heavily relying on the former finance secretary's statement to draw conclusions.
"There are a large number of documents for which they (the CBI) are relying on Subbarao's statement… The court should summon the documents for scrutiny," Swamy had said.
Venugopal had already stated earlier in court that the agency had considered the documents. But, the issue cropped up once again on Tuesday. This was after a reference was made to the government's statement that the CBI would "naturally" consider the "new documents" filed before the apex court.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cbi-clean-chit-to-chidambaram-supreme-court-seeks-2g-related-papers/1/152994.html
