The Hindu : Court faults CBI probe in JMM case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 17, 2002

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Court faults CBI probe in JMM case

By Nirnimesh Kumar

NEW DELHI, MARCH 16. In its judgment setting free the former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, and the then Union Home Minister, Buta Singh, in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs bribery case, the Delhi High Court has observed that the Central Bureau of Investigation's quality of investigation was not up to the mark.

"The standard of investigation and the material placed before the court can be gauged from the fact that both parties have argued before me that but for the statement of the approver, Shailendra Mahato, no case is made out against the accused persons,'' R. S. Sodhi said.

The judge also pulled up the investigating agency for not calling the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the former Union Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani, to the court as corroborative prosecution witnesses to lend credence to the approver's statement that Mr. Rao, Mr. Singh and the JMM MPs had a closed-door meeting where the alleged "votes-for-money" deal was struck between Mr. Rao and the MPs, for support on the no-confidence motion, put to vote in the Lok Sabha against the Rao Government on July 28, 1993.

Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Jethmalani were the first two persons to whom Mr. Mahato had divulged the details of the alleged deal.

"The law regarding appreciation of evidence of an approver is quite clear. Firstly, he must be a reliable witness and, if found to be reliable, his statement must be corroborated by independent witnesses in material particulars,'' Mr. Justice Sodhi said.

"The CBI sought to corroborate Mahato's earlier statements by his statement as an approver under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code; such corroboration is impermissible. The statement under Section 164 cannot be used to corroborate the testimony of a witness who needs to be corroborated by material particulars by independent evidence... "

"In the present case, the material particular is the closed-door meeting for which the only additional evidence is the money lying in the bank accounts of the four JMM MPs which has not been connected with Mr. Rao and Mr. Singh,'' the judgment said.

"The total evidence against Mr. Rao and Mr. Singh is the separate meeting between them and the JMM leader, Suraj Mandal, for about five-six minutes, where, according to the prosecution, the money deal was settled; therefore, the only incriminating act of Buta Singh is coming to a separate room with Mr. Rao and Suraj and their deciding about the money deal... "

"It was incumbent upon the prosecution to lead evidence to corroborate this evidence which is woefully absent.''

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