The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to decide on how long it intends to continue the trial in the fake stamp paper scam of 2002.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to decide on how long it intends to continue the trial in the fake stamp paper scam of 2002.
Abdul Karim Telgi, the kingpin of the mult-crore scam, died last year but the trial in many cases in which several government officials were charged is yet to be completed.
Hearing a plea filed by two accused, the court asked the CBI to decide when will it conclude the trial in the the 2002 Bund Garden case which has 19 government officials as accused who are ‘senior citizens’.
A division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Prakash Naik asked the CBI to reply in four weeks time.
“Larger public interest will not subserve by spending large sums of public money in continuing with the case, where prosecution has cited 800 witnesses to be examined. The CBI must take a rational decision and decide now where to stop,” the court said.
The bench gave the direction while hearing a petition filed by former police officials Shridhar Vagal and Dattatray Dhal, who have challenged the framing of charges and sought discharge from the case.
The two are charged of aiding and abetting the prime accused (now deceased), Abdul Karim Telgi.
The petition filed through advocate J Shekhar argued that it has been 16 years and still the trial is progressing at a very slow pace. Over the years, the petitioners have suffered immense trauma and they don’t expect the trial to be concluded before another decade, the petition said.
Advocate Raja Thackeray, appearing for the agency, argued that trial cannot be conducted on a day to day basis but assured the court that it would be completed at the earliest.
However, the bench said “After so many years, how many witnesses will be able to recount the events of the incident. CBI has to take an informed decision and set a time frame in how much time will it conclude the case.”
The case pertains to the 2002 Bund Garden case, in which a total of 68 accused were booked in the fake stamp paper scam. Over the years, investigation was transferred from the local police, to the CID and later Special investigation Team and then CBI.
The court also referred to cases against share market scam accused Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh, which are still pending. It has to come to an end at some point of time, it said.
The multi-crore scam, run by Telgi, came to light in 2002 after seizure of counterfeit stamps and stamp papers in Pune. Later, investigations revealed the scam was spread over nearly a dozen states. Several cases were filed in these states in connection with the scam.
The scam involved printing and sale of counterfeit stamps and stamp papers by a crime syndicate led by Telgi, who was later convicted and sentenced to multiple years in jail.
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