Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been hauled up by the Court of Special CBI Judge, Jagdeep Jain, in an ongoing case of corruption against Bikramjit Singh, former Principal Secretary, Punjab.
The CBI had accused him of “amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income”. The CBI had alleged that Singh had maintained a fleet of cars and a number of credit cards besides a large number of bank accounts and property. A case against him was registered by the CBI in 1997. The charges were framed against him in 2006.
The judge came down heavily today on the CBI for summoning unnecessary witnesses in the case. Taking digs at the CBI for causing delay in the case by summoning witnesses who are not even required in the case, the judge has given last opportunity to the CBI to close its evidence by April 1. The CBI also earned the wrath for causing undue inconvenience for witnesses. In one such instance, the judge observed that a witness residing in Guwahati was summoned by the CBI to testify, which could have been easily verified by some other witness. It is pertinent to mention here that the CBI Judge had been giving strict directions to the CBI since 2006, but to no avail.
The court further observed that instead of summoning the investigating officer of the case, who has not appeared in the case, the CBI was summoning unnecessary witnesses, which was in turn causing delay in the case. The CBI has been given last opportunity to close the evidence by April 1.
Source: ENS