Brushing aside Centre’s objections, the Supreme Court today said it would pass an order for the appointment of senior advocate U U Lalit as special public prosecutor for holding the trial of former Telecom Minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum case on a day-to-day basis without any adjournments.
Turning down the Centre’s plea seeking one week’s time to come out with an alternate name, a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said it would pass a formal order on the appointment of Lalit on April 11.
“We intend to pass an order directing the government to come out with a notification on the appointment of Lalit as special public prosecutor. He will also have the choice to suggest the names of other prosecutors to assist him in the case,” the bench said.
The Centre, however, continued to raise objection and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Indira Jaising, said court should also record her statement on government’s reservation on the name of Lalit. “I do not want to be seen as consenting to the Supreme Court order,” she said when the bench refused to grant more time as sought by the government, which pleaded for adjournment of the case.
Senior advocate K K Venugopal, who has been appearing on behalf of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), did not find support from another ASG Haren Rawal, also appearing for the ED, who said “it was not the suggestion of ED” but the personal opinion of Venugopal.
Venugopal, however, insisted on the name of Lalit, saying “he is a person of integrity, wholly independent and well versed in criminal law”.
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The court after hearing the arguments fixed April 11 for passing order as the special court, exclusively set up for holding the trial 2G scam, is to conduct further proceeding on April 13.
“We will make it clear in our order that the special court will hold trial on day-to-day basis and no adjournment on any basis will be allowed,” the bench said adding no court shall entertain any petition or application in the case and any thing relating to the case has to be filed in the Supreme Court.
The bench also directed the CBI and the ED to brief it about their second stage of probe into the scam after the CBI filed its first chargesheet in the case on April 2 in the special court.
Venugopal said the second chargesheet regarding bribery angle in the scam will be filed before April 24. He said after the filing of the chargesheets, the role of the apex court in monitoring the case would come to an end.
Earlier, the Centre had objected to the appointment of Lalit as SPP saying he did not meet the eligibility criteria for the task.
The Centre raised technical objections to Lalit’s appointment saying he should have worked under the state or the Union government for at least seven years to be eligible as the case has been filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, had submitted that Lalit had been in the lawyer’s panel for the Maharashtra government and the Centre for 15 years and five years, respectively and he fulfilled the criteria. But Attorney General G E Vahanvati had submitted that being in the panel was not sufficient and one should be the government’s standing counsel for seven years.
The court had said the Act does not mention the word “standing counsel” and the objection raised was highly technical which should be given “reasonable” interpretation.
Vahanvati had said there were some apprehensions that Lalit’s appointment as the SPP could be challenged at any stage and it might derail the entire prosecution of the case.
CBI has registered cases against Raja and others under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency had on April 1 informed the apex court that Lalit would be appointed as SPP for assisting the special court, set up for the exclusive trial of the 2G spectrum case.