Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani will have to appear as a CBI witness in the 2G scam case with the Supreme Court today refraining from passing any order and the trial court dismissing a plea for deferring his deposition scheduled tomorrow.
In an attempt to get an interim order for exempting Ambani from appearing in the case tomorrow, Reliance Telecom Ltd made an oral plea before an apex court bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi.
The court said the plea will be considered only after it decides the petitions recalling two of its earlier orders barring High Court from hearing 2G cases.
Having failed to get any relief from the apex court, a battery of senior lawyers including Ram Jethmalani and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for different accused, immediately rushed to the trial court for postponement of examination of Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani.
The trial court, which had earlier postponed the examination of Anil Ambani, dismissed the plea of the accused firm saying no prejudice would be caused to any accused by examination of these witnesses.
It also pointed out that no such prayer for postponement has been made by Ambanis themselves.
"Furthermore, the witness for tomorrow (Anil Ambani) has already been served and an accommodation was granted to him earlier also when he was summoned for July 26. At that time also, the accused had not stated that examination of these witnesses would cause prejudice to it.
"I see no reason as to how any prejudice would be caused to the accused, if these witnesses are examined now," Special CBI Judge O P Saini said.
