NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the CBI and the ED on Monday to place before it all the press communications and releases put out by the agencies in relation to a probe into the Delhi excise policy “scam” case, in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and businessman Vijay Nair have been named as accused.
The court said it will consider the official communications issued by the federal agencies and see if the reports carried by television channels on the issue were based on it or were a “figment of their imagination”.
The court’s order came on a plea moved by Nair, claiming that sensitive information in relation to the case is being leaked to the media by the investigating agencies, which is hampering his right as an accused.
“The court, before proceeding further, requests respondent nos. 1 (CBI) and 2 (ED) to place all the press communications and press releases put out by them in connection with the investigation of the criminal case,” Justice Yashwant Varma said and listed the plea for further hearing on November 21.
The court also observed that “disclosure is happening in real-time, prime time, day in and day out”. Nair is a former chief executive officer (CEO) of an event management company and the communication in charge of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.
Appearing for Nair, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan argued that if a news organisation carries reports based on imagination, it is dangerous. To this, the judge said, “Then that is an alarm for us.” Krishnan said the trial is at a critical stage and when the details of it are published in the media, the rights of his client are harmed.
He contended that all the information is reaching the media through the investigating agencies and said the court should examine whether the television channels broadcast something beyond the information supplied to them.
“We do not know if these channels imagined the information,” he said, adding that the statement of an approver is being recorded in the case before a trial court and if that too is reported by the media, it would seriously prejudice the accused’s case. To this, the judge said if a statement under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is recorded in camera, can be leaked, it is a serious issue.