Delhi court orders CBI to list all written communications in Delhi Excise Policy case

A Delhi court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to include in court documents a list of all the notices and written communications sent to anyone connected with the Delhi Excise Policy case, and the responses received to the same [CBI v. Kuldeep Singh & Ors]. .Special Judge (PC Act) Dig Vinay Singh of the Rouse Avenue Court said that these communications will be in the list of unrelied documents (URDs) if the agency does not want to rely on them during the trial. The list shall be supplied to the accused, and they can inspect the documents, the Court ruled. “Along with the list [of URDs], the Investigating Officer (IO) shall file an affidavit confirming that no other such notice/communication/document is omitted from the relied-upon documents or the URD.".Several high-profile businessmen and politicians have been accused in the Excise Policy case. This includes Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh..In an order passed on May 22, the Court also directed the investigating officer (IO) to file another affidavit detailing whether any search and seizure memos have not been listed in the URDs, as alleged by one of the accused, Amandeep Singh Dhall. “If any such search and seizure memos are missing from the URD list, they are to be added. Conversely, if the CBI asserts that there are no search and seizure memos beyond those already incorporated, an affidavit to that effect must also be filed.”Notably, the CBI had opposed the pleas of the accused, arguing that the notices or summons are part of the case diaries and do not constitute a part of the URDs. They are not related to documents seized during the investigation and do not constitute evidence collected, but are merely requisitions or communications made for evidence collection and thus cannot be supplied, the agency had argued. However, the Court rejected the contention, holding that these documents are not protected under Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. .Accused Vinod Chauhan had argued that some statements of the cited witnesses were recorded by the CBI but are neither relied upon nor listed in the URDs or the relied documents. On this point, the Court ordered the agency to make a decision within four weeks as to whether it will provide the copies of those statements. “If the CBI chooses not to rely on those statements, they must be included in the list of URDs. The IO shall file an affidavit confirming compliance with this directive that no further witness statements examined by the CBI remain unmentioned in the relied-upon documents or URDs.”.Judge Singh passed these directions while dealing with a number of applications filed by the accused in the Delhi Excise Policy case. After dealing with these demands, the Court noted that it cannot hear arguments on the charges yet because the digital data available with the forensic lab is still to be provided to the accused. “Arguments on charges will now proceed once the relied-upon digital evidence copy and the list of URDs are supplied to the accused individuals, as indicated above,” the judge said. It further said that all the accused who have still not completed the scrutiny of documents, must do so expeditiously because such inspections can’t be at the accused’s leisure to prevent a speedy trial. “It is reiterated, no further scrutiny applications shall be accepted qua the documents already supplied,” the Court added. .[Read Order]