[IRCTC scam case] As Deputy CM, use words carefully: Special Court to Tejashwi Yadav; disposes of CBI plea

Tejashwi Yadav, being the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, should act responsibly while choosing his words, a Special Court warned while disposing of a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking cancellation of his bail in the IRCTC scam case..The CBI plea was in relation to a case of alleged irregularities in the functioning of IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation). The agency sought for cancellation of Yadav's bail on the ground that he had publicly threatened the agency and its officers at a press conference.While disposing of the CBI plea, Special Judge Geetanjli Goel observed that going by the laws laid down by the High Courts and the Supreme Court, no ground is made out for cancellation of bail.“It would however, be appropriate that the application for cancellation of bail is disposed of by giving a warning to the accused 3 (Tejaswi Yadav) to act responsibly, especially, since he is holding the responsible position of the deputy chief minister of Bihar, and to be temperate and careful in the words used by him,” the order stated..CBI contended that while granting bail to Yadav on October 6, 2018, the court imposed a rider that he should not try to influence witnesses or tamper with the evidence.However, the probe agency argued that Yadav’s utterances at a recent public gathering were not only “scandalous”, but also an attempt to prevent trial from reaching a logical conclusion. “The statements are an open and direct threat to the CBI, the officers and their families and the accused 3 had openly warned the CBI officers against carrying out the investigation and also resorting to innuendos and threats in the process. It is submitted that the same had been made with the intent to cause alarm and dissuade the officers from discharging their duties under law, while acceding to such threats made on public platforms,” said CBI..Counsel for Yadav told the court that the CBI’s plea was based on an encrypted YouTube video uploaded by a news channel. The channel was stated to have uploaded only a part of the video, and not the entire video on its channel. He also submitted that Yadav had not given any statement during the presser held on August 25 this year that could have led to the assumption that he was threatening witnesses, or the CBI and its officials. The plea for cancellation of bail was said to have been filed on a “fictitious threat” and “bogus perception of threat”.In addition, Yadav was stated to have clarified later that he had never tried to threaten any person including CBI officials by way of a press release and social media posts on August 31, 2022..The court noted that there was neither any direct threat to the CBI officers, nor any indirect threat to any of the witnesses. It was further observed there was nothing to indicate that Yadav had tried to undermine the authority of the court. Finding merit in the submission of the Senior Counsel appearing for Yadav, the court noted that the Deputy CM did not say that he did not have trust in the court, but instead stated that he had co-operated in the investigation and abided by all decisions of the courts. “It would be no longer conducive to a fair trial to allow the accused 3 to retain his freedom during the trial. The present cannot also be said to be a case of interference with the due course of administration of justice or evasion or attempt to evade the due course of justice or even an abuse of the concessions (bail) granted to the accused in any manner,” it added..Senior Advocate Maninder Singh along with Advocates Varun Jain, Navin Kumar, Akhilesh Singh, Aekta Vats, Vishal Chauhan and Anshika Batra represented Yadav.Special Public Prosecutor DP Singh, Senior Public Prosecutor Pankaj Gupta and Advocates Manu Mishra and Shreya Dutta appeared for the CBI..[Read Order]