|
CBI takes
13 years to scrutinise documents, gets court flak
Sunday March 04, 2012 05:30:49 PM,
Amiya Kumar Kushwaha, IANS
|
|
|
|
|
New Delhi: Thirteen years to scrutinise documents
of a case! The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) received flak
from a Delhi court for taking such a long time to go over
documents, thus prolonging the trial, during which five of the
accused died. The youngest accused is now 59 years old.
"It took around 13 years for CBI to comply with the mandatory
provision of supply of copies u/S 207, CrPC (Supply to the
accused, the copy of police report and other documents)," Special
Judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma said.
Ticking off the country's premier probe agency, the judge said:
"It is very difficult to understand what was the rationale of
citing so many witnesses and filing of load of documents - when
they were not to be examined and proved."
The judge's remark came while awarding two years' rigorous
imprisonment to convict Lalit Kumar Parmar, director of private
firm Punjab Phosphate Pvt. Ltd., and slapping a Rs.20,000 fine on
him.
The court also slapped Rs.5 crore fine on Punjab Phosphate.
According to the prosecution, Punjab Fertilizer and Pesticides
Industries, Amritsar, came into existence for the purported
manufacture of single superphosphate. The partnership firm, Punjab
Fertilizer and Pesticides Industries, changed its constitution to
a company named Punjab Phosphate in June 1983.
The company got subsidy on bogus bills till March 1987, amounting
to Rs.3,33,45,282.
The court observed that Parmar procured subsidy on bogus bills.
The court called the case as a classic example of total failure of
governance and said the amount belonged to the common man.
The court said: "The hard earned money of the tax payers was
fraudulently taken away by the white collar criminals in the form
of subsidy."
The court pulled up the CBI for filing thousands of documents with
the charge-sheet. The CBI has cited 175 witnesses.
The case was registered in 1988 and the chargesheet was filed in
1994.
The charges were framed against the accused on Oct 21, 2011. From
1994 to the framing of charges, the CBI took 13 years in perusing
the documents.
The prosecution evidence was commenced from January 2012 on a
daily basis. The court has only examined 43 prosecution witnesses
out of the 175.
The CBI had booked 23 accused in the case, of whom five died
during the trial.
"There is another distinct feature of this case. The youngest
accused R.C. Nirmal is now 59 years of age and oldest accused M.S.
Sandhu is about 81," said the judge.
The judge acquitted 16 accused from the case after observing that
the prosecution had failed to establish their role in the case.
(Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be contacted at amiya.k@ians.in)
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 US House resolution asks Gujarat to restore
religious freedom
To mark the 10th anniversary of Gujarat communal
riots, a Democrat lawmaker has introduced a resolution in the
House of Representatives urging the state government to restore
»
Authorities in Gujarat protecting perpetrators of 2002 riots: HRW
Tahirul
Qadri calrifies 'forget Gujarat riots' remarks
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Probe finds
direct involvement of US troops in Quran burning case
A joint U.S.-Afghan investigation found that five
American soldiers were directly involved in the burning of Muslim
holy books at an American base late last month, CBS News confirms
»
|
|
Amir of Qatar to visit India, with gas sale,
investment on agenda
Qatar's
Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, one of the world's richest
monarchs and whose tiny country of barely two million people has
the world's highest per capita income, is expected to visit India
soon, with export of gas, of which his country is the largest
exporter, and investment high on » |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Islam fastest growing religion in America: Study
The
number of American mosques has increased dramatically in the last
decade despite post-9/11 protests aimed at Muslim houses of
worship, according to a report released this week. The new Islamic centers » |
|
A unique
temple - dedicated to India's freedom fighters
Indian Army
chief General V.K. Singh Sunday opened the first Rashtra Mandir,
dedicated to freedom fighters and social workers, at the
Mankameshwar temple complex here.
The Rashtra Mandir is a unique » |
|
Hajj to cost more for Indian Muslims this year
Hajj, one of the five tenets of Islam would cost
500 Saudi Riyal (SR) more this year for those Indian Muslims, who
are going through State Hajj Committees; Courtesy government of
India. The price went up after the » |
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Union
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan
Kumar Bansal inspecting the damaged gate number 16 at the
Farakka Barrage, Murshidabad district, West Bengal on March
03, 2012. State Minister of Irrigation & Waterways, Micro &
Small Scale Enterprises & Textiles, Government of West Bengal
Dr. Manas Ranjan Bhunia and State Minister of Development &
Planning and Power, Government of West Bengal Manish Gupta are
also seen. |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links