2G: Court order on signature of TTSL official pending

A Delhi court today kept its order pending for "appropriate stage" on a plea by 2G spectrum case accused Rajiv Agarwal for obtaining specimen signatures of a CBI witness and Tata Teleservices Ltd official Anand Dalal.

A Delhi court on Thursday kept its order pending for "appropriate stage" on a plea by 2G spectrum case accused Rajiv Agarwal for obtaining specimen signatures of a CBI witness and Tata Teleservices Ltd official Anand Dalal.

Agarwal, a director of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, had moved the court alleging that the entries made in the visitors' register maintained at the Department of Telecom (DoT) office at Sanchar Bhawan here have been "forged" by someone with ulterior motives.

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He had pointed out that during recording of statement in the court, TTSL senior vice president (corporate regulatory affairs) Dalal was shown the visitors' register in which there were entries in his name on January 8 and 9, 2008, just before the issuance of letters of intent (LoIs) on January 10, 2008.

On being shown the said register, Dalal had said both the entries were in his name but it does not bear his signature, Agarwal had said in his application, adding, that the CBI had filed "doctored documents" before the court with the motive of falsely implicating the accused in the case.

During his cross examination, Dalal had also denied that the two entries were made at his instance, Agarwal said.

Special CBI Judge OP Saini, who was scheduled to pass an order on Agarwal's plea, said, "the application (of Rajiv Agarwal) is kept pending for appropriate stage as it involves appreciation of evidence" produced in the case.

During the arguments on the application, senior counsel RN Mittal, who appeared for Agarwal, had said that court should take specimen signatures of Dalal to ascertain the veracity of entries in the documents which the agency had filed before it.

Mittal had also argued that the court should issue notice to the CBI on this issue so that the agency could clarify its point on it.

Agarwal, who is facing trial along with others including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi, had told the court that specimen signatures of Dalal should be taken to find out as to who had committed the "forgery" in the documents filed by the agency.

"That the fact of forgery in the documents filed on record would gravely affect the interests of the accused persons and hamper the proper and fair adjudication of the issue in hand, thus it is essential that appropriate action be taken in the matter," the application said.

It also said, "the court has got ample powers to either order for registration of FIR or to take judicial notice of the perjury brought to the knowledge of this court or to refer contempt proceedings or to pose court questions when deemed necessary or also to take appropriate action to test the veracity of the documents."