(This story originally appeared in on Jun 02, 2018)

NEW DELHI: Accused of being directionless and diffident by O P Saini in the 2G verdict last year, CBI has slammed the special judge for not “applying his mind” while acquitting DMK leader and former telecom minister A Raja and others in one of the biggest scams and taking statements of the accused as “gospel truth” while ignoring material evidence and reliable witnesses.Saini had acquitted Raja, his party colleague Kanimozhi and top corporate honchos — including Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra, D B Realty chief Shahid Balwa and others — in the 2G scam on December 21, 2017 while accusing CBI of failing to prove its case and concluding that the charges were based on “rumour, gossip and speculation”.In its appeal filed in the Delhi high court in March this year, exclusively accessed by TOI, CBI has contended that “impugned judgment suffers from serious infirmities as it does not reflect much application of mind with regard to the interdependence of documentary evidence, witness statements and the backdrop of the case”.Saini, CBI says, completely overlooked the material evidence on the ‘first-come-first-served’ policy; fixing of cut-off date and not adhering to it; the ineligibility of Balwa’s Swan Telecom and Unitech Group companies; prior intimacy between A Raja, Shahid Balwa and Sanjay Chandra; and transactions of Rs 200 crore as “quid pro quo”.It says that Saini ignored testimonies of reliable witnesses, including topmost law officer of the country G E Vahanvati (late solicitor general), D S Mathur (former telecom secretary) and Asheervatham Achary (Raja’s former additional PS) among others.“Special judge has ignored the reliable evidence produced by the prosecution and has accepted the uncorroborated evidence of accused A Raja and his private secretary R K Chandolia as gospel truth,” it claimed.“He (the judge) has found A Raja’s evidence as totally unimpeachable, even when his character is that of an interested person, his answers are evasive and ex facie incorrect and contrary to the written record,” the agency says.CBI has also claimed that a portion of Saini’s judgment in the 2G scam can have a major impact on corruption cases. Saini discarded the testimony of all the officers of DoT on the ground that the officers did not record oral instructions given by A Raja, Siddharth Behura and R K Chandolia in writing in accordance with the service rules and manual of office procedures.“Special judge has ignored evidence to the effect that there was pressure on DoT officers not to record the oral instructions on files as well as the fact that it would not be possible for a junior officer to record the oral instructions by minister, conveyed through his private secretary,” says CBI.CBI says this has implications for corruption cases as no accused will allow his name to come on record. “If this reasoning is allowed to stand, it would seal the fate of prosecution of corruption cases in the country,” it says. CBI also slams Saini for wrongly interpreting the cheating charge by holding that there was no person to depose that DoT was cheated.