Accused asked to pay Rs. 34 L for call records

In what could spell trouble for the 13 alleged Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) members facing trial in the 7/11 Mumbai serial train blasts case, mobile service providers have asked the accused to pay Rs 34 lakh if they want their old call data records (CDR).

In what could spell trouble for the 13 alleged Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) members facing trial in the 7/11 Mumbai serial train blasts case, mobile service providers have asked the accused to pay Rs 34 lakh if they want their old call data records (CDR).

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The accused sought the records to prove their innocence in the blasts.

The four service providers – Vodafone, Loop, Airtel and Tata – filed separate applications on Wednesday, asking the special Mcoca court hearing the case to direct the accused to pay the amount. The companies also said that retrieving the old records could take three months.

The companies contended that the process includes identification of old tapes and extraction and retrieval of data, owing to which the companies will incur costs.

The 13 accused had earlier moved court asking for the CDR, which was the basis on which the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Cell had procured their remand.

The ATS, however, claimed that the records were lost, and the special court had rejected the plea of the accused.

The Maharashtra ATS then told the court that the CDR had been deleted, and the HC directed the trial court to examine if these could be recovered with the help of the service providers concerned.

The high court had earlier expressed its doubt on whether the state has actually destroyed the records as claimed by them.

The trial court has now asked the defence advocate to file a reply to the service providers’ application.