2G: HC reserves verdict on Raja's ex-aide plea for discharge

The Delhi high court on Friday reserved its verdict on former telecom minister A Raja's erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia's plea to discharge him in 2G spectrum allocation case on the ground of the sanction to prosecute him being allegedly "illegal and invalid".

The Delhi high court on Friday reserved its verdict on former telecom minister A Raja's erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia's plea to discharge him in 2G spectrum allocation case on the ground of the sanction to prosecute him being allegedly "illegal and invalid".

"Judgement is reserved," justice ML Mehta said after hearing arguments on behalf of CBI and the counsel for Chandolia who has sought quashing of the proceedings against him.

Chandolia has moved the high court, challenging Special CBI Judge O P Saini's order which has rejected his plea to discharge him in the case.

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Chandolia had sought to be discharged, contending CBI had not secured sanction as per the CrPC provisions to try him for penal offences.

Initiating the arguments, Chandolia's counsel Vijay Agawral told the court that "CBI, which secured a sanction to prosecute the accused under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, did not get the sanction under the CrPC to prosecute him for offences like criminal conspiracy and cheating under the IPC."

"The competent authority, which accorded the sanction to prosecute the accused, granted it in a day. It was impossible for the authority to go through the documents and the charge sheet, running into 1.80 lakh pages and arrive at an opinion, that too in a day," he said, terming the sanction as invalid.

"Such things, vary from person to person. We also deal with bulky files and give our judgements," justice Mehta said.

Sonia Mathur, appearing for CBI, opposed Chandolia's plea saying "the sanctioning authority was not required to go through all the documents before arriving at a decision."

She also said Chandolia's plea was rightly dismissed by the trial court.