
NEW DELHI: Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the Department of Telecom (DoT) on Tuesday told the apex court that the government had absolutely no objection to a court-monitored investigation.
“The Government doesn’t propose to oppose investigation. It supports investigation. And it is committed to hold a thorough probe,” the Solicitor-General told a Bench comprising Justice G S Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly hearing the 2G spectrum scam case.
Senior counsel K K Venugopal, appearing for the CBI said that he also had no objection for a court-monitored probe. “In fact, I expressed my willingness during the last hearing,” he reminded. Justice Ganguly said, “Court-monitored investigation is to get to the truth and fix accountability. We can invoke a continuous mandamus.”
Then came the question of safe custody of tapes where intercepts of conversations connected with the 2G spectrum are recorded. When counsel for the petitioners Prashant Bhushan expressed his apprehension for their safety, Justice Singhvi agreed with him.
“Every attempt is being made to see that the recordings of the conversations disappear. The conversations show crime beyond 2G spectrum.
Public wrong doing on a widespread scale. They should be kept in court under lock and key,” Bhushan told the Bench.
At this, Venugopal said, “We got the copies from the Income Tax Department which has the original tapes. If you want we can make a copy and submit to the court.”