NEW DELHI: A public prosecutor of Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been removed after he was allegedly caught in a taped conversation discussing prosecution strategy with one of the high-profile accused Sanjay Chandra, managing director of Unitech. Dispatch News Desk reported on Monday.
CNN-IBN channel tonight played the audio tape of the purported conversation between AK Singh, the CBI prosecutor and Chandra in which Singh purportedly suggests how a key prosecution witness would depose in the special court hearing the 2G case. CBI said on Monday evening that Singh has been removed from the 2G case trial’s prosecution team and a preliminary enquiry (PE) has been registered to verify these allegations.
The court has been informed about the developments, the spokesperson said, adding another prosecutor has been appointed to the team to assist in the ongoing trial. “The CBI maintains strict vigilance over its officers and the prosecution and no instance of professional misconduct is taken lightly,” the CBI said in a statement.
In its reaction, Unitech rejected the allegations saying Chandra has never met the prosecutor in the 2G case outside the court or had any phone conversation with him. Unitech denied that Chandra’s voice was on any alleged recording and said it appeared a fabricated voice recording had been sent anonymously to CBI.”It is nothing but an attempt to malign him and prejudice his defence in the 2G case,” the Unitech statement said.
CBI director Ranjit Sinha said while he cannot confirm the genuineness of the tape, prima facie it appeared to be true. However, only a forensic examination would give the correct picture, he said. The CBI director also ruled out the case being compromised and said a “trivial aberration” by one person cannot compromise the “honesty and integrity” of the investigation agency.
