2G case: court gives 824-page draft questionnaire to 17 accused

A Delhi court today gave a "draft questionnaire" running into 824 pages to the 17 accused facing trial in 2G spectrum allocation scam case, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and top corporate honchos, and fixed the case for recording of their statements on April 21.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini supplied draft questionnaire, containing 1,718 questions to the advocates representing the 17 accused, saying "it would be in the interest of justice and also convenient to parties if a copy of draft questionnaire is supplied to accused in advance to facilitate answering to the questions by them and to expedite the case."

The court, which had in November last year concluded the recording of prosecution evidence in the case, would now start the recording of statements of the accused from April 21.
"The case is listed for recording statements of accused persons on April 4, 2014. Given the voluminous nature of the case, a draft questionnaire has been prepared, which runs into 824 pages.
The court had on November 27, 2013, concluded recording of statements of CBI witnesses after the deposition of CBI's Superintendent of Police Vivek Priyadarshi, the chief investigating officer, got over.
The court had recorded statements of 153 CBI witnesses, including Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani, former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and Attorney General G E Vahanvati, running into over 4,400 pages in the case involving Raja and 16 others.