In 2G case, CBI can file an appeal in high court
NEWDELHI: The Union law ministry has given formal sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file an appeal in the 2G case wherein all the accused were acquitted by the trial court.
A ministry official confirmed the agency can now file an appeal in Delhi high court against the acquittal. “We cleared the file on Thursday,” he said. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said the agency is yet to receive the communication of formal sanction from the government.
On December 21 last year, a special CBI court, presided over by judge OP Saini, acquitted all 16 accused, including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi.
The agency announced that it prima facie examined the order and it appears that the evidence adduced to substantiate the charges by the prosecution has not been appreciated in its proper perspective by the court.
An agency spokesperson then said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)would take the necessary legal remedies and file an appeal in the case.
Not only this case but judge Saini had also thrown out charges of money laundering filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against all 19 accused persons and entities in the matter. The ED also announced it will file an appeal against the order.
“As per Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the government of India is the final authority in allowing any central prosecuting agency to file an appeal in the higher court,” said ML Sharma, a formerCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special director.
NR Wasan, another former CBI official who retired as chief of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, said sub-section 2 of the section 377 of CrPC deals with appeals filed by CBI and it says the central government may direct the public prosecutor to present an appeal to the high court against the sentence on the ground of its inadequacy.
“Before filing an appeal, the investigating and supervisory officers of the case, including CBI chief and its director of prosecution, give their recommendation for filing the appeal and then the matter is referred to the ministry of personnel, which is the administrative ministry of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It then sends the file to the law ministry, which gives the final approval for an appeal,” said Wasan.