2G Court pulls up Shahid Balwa for giving objectionable answer

A Delhi court, conducting trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, today pulled up Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, saying certain answers given by him in response to the court's query were "objectionable".

Special CBI Judge O P Saini observed that there were some errors in Balwa's statement and it has escaped the court's attention as they were "quite longish".

"Certain replies have been found to be quite objectionable and, as such, his (Balwa's) further statement has been deferred. Moreover, some errors, also escaped court attention while checking the same on court computer, as the replies were quite longish," the judge said.

The court also observed that some doubt has cropped up regarding the questions being supplied to the accused for recording of their statements under the provisions of the CrPC.

"Statement of accused Shahid Usman Balwa recorded partly and thereafter, deferred, as some doubt has cropped up as to whether the questions are in the same format as were supplied to the accused and also as to the replies submitted by the accused in response to the questions in his pen drive, which has been submitted by him in the court and taken on the court computer," the court said.

During the day's proceeding, the court also recorded the statements of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, who both are facing trial in the case.

The stage for the recording of evidence of former Telecom Minister A Raja and 16 other accused, including Kanimozhi, was set earlier when the court had supplied a draft questionnaire containing 1,718 questions running into 824 pages to the accused.

Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, Reliance ADAG executives -- Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair -- are facing trial in the case.

Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Sharad Kumar and Bollywood producer Karim Morani are also accused in the case.

Besides these 14 accused, three telecom firms Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd are also facing trial in the case.