TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2013 (9) TMI 1151
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.... been passed, was filed under Article 136 of the Constitution of India by special leave, praying for a Court monitored investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a Special Investigating Team into what was described as the 2G Spectrum Scam and also for a direction to investigate the role played by A. Raja, the then Union Minister for Department of Telecommunications (DoT), senior officers of DoT, middlemen, businessmen and others. Before this Court, it was pointed out that the CBI had lodged a first information report on 21.10.2009 alleging that during the years 2000-2008 certain officials of the DoT entered into a criminal conspiracy with certain private companies and misused their official position in the grant of Unified Access Licenses causing wrongful loss to the nation, which was estimated to be more than Rs. 22,000 crores. CBI, following that, registered a case No.RC-DAI-2009-A-0045(2G Spectrum Case) on 21.10.2009 under Section 120B IPC, 13(1)(d) of the PC Act against a former Cabinet Minister and others. 3. Before this Court parties produced large number of documents, including the Performance Audit Report (Draft and Final) prepared by the Comptrolle....
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....and crores. The CBI should also probe how licences were granted to large number of ineligible applicants and who was responsible for the same and why the TRAI and the DoT did not take action against those licensees who sold their stake/equities for many thousand crores and also against those who failed to fulfill rollout obligations and comply with other conditions of licence. (ii) The CBI shall conduct the investigation without being influenced by any functionary, agency or instrumentality of the State and irrespective of the position, rank or status of the person to be investigated/probed. (iii) The CBI shall, if it has already not registered first information report in the context of the alleged irregularities committed in the grant of licences from 2001 to 2006-2007, now register a case and conduct thorough investigation with particular emphasis on the loss caused to the public exchequer and corresponding gain to the licensees/service providers and also on the issue of allowing use of dual/alternate technology by some service providers even before the decision was made public vide press release dated 19.10.2007. (iv) The CBI shall also make investigat....
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....y the offences relating to 2G Scam and other related offences. Following that, two notifications dated 28.03.2011 were published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary on Monday, the 28th March, 2011. 8. The CBI submitted before this Court on 01.04.2011 that a notification had been issued under Section 6 of the Delhi Police Establishment Act by the State Government for entrusting the case relating to death of Sadiq Batcha to the CBI and the CBI had indicated that it had no objection to take up the investigation. The CBI also submitted before this Court that a Special Public Prosecutor had to be appointed to lead and supervise the prosecution of the case relating to the 2G Scam for which the CBI had suggested the name of Shri U.U. Lalit, senior advocate of this Court. 9. The CBI, after completion of the investigation in the main case, noticed the commission of various other offences during 2007-09 punishable under Sections 120-B, 420, 468, 471 of IPC against the accused persons, namely, Shri A. Raja and others and the following substantive offences were stated to have been made out against the following accused persons: "a) Sh. A. Raja, then MOC&IT - the offence punish....
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....d in the interest of holding a fair prosecution of the case." 13. We found, in spite of the order passed by this Court on 11.04.2011 that no Court should entertain any prayer for staying or impeding the progress of the trial, large number of writ petitions were seen filed before the Delhi High Court praying for stay of the trial proceedings on one or the other ground. The CBI noticing that entertaining of those cases would violate the order passed by this Court on 11.04.2011, filed an application before this Court for summoning the records of Writ Petition (Criminal) No.1587 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.1588 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.913 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.111 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.207 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.1478 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.1751 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 1752 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 1754 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.206 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 159 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 208 of 2012, Criminal M.C. No. 4197 of 2011, Criminal M.C. No.67 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.129 of 2012, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.656 of 2012, Cri....
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....Constitution of India and the impugned order has the effect of negating those rights by shutting out all remedies available to the parties under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India to move the High Court. Learned senior counsel placed reliance on the Judgment of this Court in A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak and another (1988) 2 SCC 602 and submitted that in appropriate cases this Court has got the power to recall its earlier order in the interest of justice, if it is satisfied that its directions will result in the deprivation of fundamental rights guaranteed to the citizens or any other legal rights. Placing reliance on the Judgment of this Court in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India and others (1997) 3 SCC 261 and Shalini Shyam Shetty and another v. Rajendra Shankar Patil (2010) 8 SCC 600, learned senior counsel submitted that the rights conferred under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India are the basic structure of the Constitution and the same cannot be taken away by exercising powers under Article 136 and 142 of the Constitution of India. 18. Shri Harish Salve, learned senior counsel, submitted that the power of the Court to monitor the criminal invest....
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....r public interest involved, passed the orders impugned, reserving the right of all, including the accused persons, to move this Court if their prayer would amount to staying or impeding the progress of the trial. In case they have any grievance against the orders passed by the Special Judge during trial, they are free to approach this Court so that the progress of the trial would not be hampered by indulging in cumbersome and time consuming proceedings in the other Forums, thereby stultifying the preemptory direction given by this Court for day-to-day trial. 22. Article 136 read with Article 142 of the Constitution of India enables this Court to pass such orders, which are necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it and, any order so made, shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India. Parties, in such a case, cannot invoke the jurisdiction under Articles 226 or 227 of the Constitution of India or under Section 482 Cr.P.C. so as to interfere with those orders passed by this Court, in exercise of its constitutional powers conferred under Article 136 read with Article 142 of the Constitution of India. Or, else, the parties will move Court....
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....nd weakens the democracy and rule of law. 25. The Parliament, in its wisdom, has also noticed the necessity of early disposal of cases relating to bribery and corruption. Section 4(4) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 reflects the will of the Parliament that a Special Judge shall hold the trial of an offence on day-to-day basis, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 19(3)(c) also states that, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, no Court shall stay the proceedings under the Prevention of Corruption Act on any other ground and no Court shall exercise the powers of the revision in relation to any interlocutory order passed in any inquiry, trial, appeal or other proceedings. Statutory provisions highlight the imperative need to eradicate the evils of bribery and corruption. Larger public interest should have precedence over the prayers of the petitioners, especially when this Court has safeguarded their rights and given freedom to them to move this Court, either under Article 136 or Article 32 of the Constitution of India. Article 139A also reflects the larger public interest, which enables this Court ....
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....y-to-day basis which cannot be termed as interference with the trial proceedings. 28. We also, therefore, find no basis in the contention of the petitioners that the orders dated 11.4.2011 and 9.11.2012 have the effect of monitoring the trial proceedings. No Court, other than the Court seized with the trial, has the power to monitor the proceedings pending before it. Order dated 11.4.2011 only facilitates the progress of the trial by ordering that the trial must proceed on a day-to-day basis. Large backlog of cases in the Courts is often an incentive to the litigants to misuse of Court's system by indulging in unnecessary and fraudulent litigation, thereby delaying the entire trial process. Criminal justice system's procedure guarantees and elaborateness sometimes give, create openings for abusive, dilatory tactics and confer unfair advantage on better heeled litigants to cause delay to their advantage. Longer the trial, witnesses will be unavailable, memories will fade and evidence will be stale. Taking into consideration all those aspects, this Court felt that it is in the larger public interest that the trial of 2G Scam be not hampered. Further, when larger public interest is....