Ready to face prosecution if CBI chief visitor diary details wrong: Prashant Bhushan, Kamini Jaiswal

Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Kamini Jaiswal, appearing for petitioner NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), told the Supreme Court that they are ready to face prosecution if the 2 Janpath diary details about CBI director Ranjit Sinha’s meeting with various accused persons are proved to be false.

Appearing for them, senior advocate Dushyant Dave told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India H L Dattu that the court can order an independent inquiry into the diary details without insisting on the disclosure of whistleblower’s name in the case.

“Both Kamini and Prashant are ready to face prosecution if the court found that the visitors’ diary details are found to be false. Court can record my statement that their right to defend themselves will be forfeited,” Dave submitted while replying to a bench’s query who will take the blame if the information is found to be false.

The bench was hearing Bhushan’s plea for recalling of court’s September 15 order asking him to submit the name of the whistleblower in a sealed cover for court’s reference.

Dna, which has access to dairy, first broke the story on September 2 that top officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), besides other accused persons, met Sinha at least 50 times in 15 months at his official residence.

During the hearing, Dave submitted that the court has to see whether the whistleblower is leaking the information in the interests of society at large or for personal purpose. Even journalists in the US and other countries preferred to go to jail than disclosing the source because nobody will come forward to give information and trust us again.

Further, he said this information is true to the best of Bhushan's knowledge, therefore no action should be taken against him. He said that in the Amar Singh case the information provided by Singh was false, but in this case, Bhushan believes in the credibility of the information.

Sinha’s counsel Vikas Singh contended that Bhushan’s allegations are “false” and he has repeated the “false facts” in his applications before the court. Bhushan should comply with the court order and submit the whistle blower’s name to court in a sealed cover. 

“If the names will be given to court in a sealed cover, how can it cause bodily harm to the person who leaked the details. Court only needed to know the bona fide of that person before passing any order in the case. They consider the information are not safe with court,” Singh argued.

The senior lawyer rejected all allegations including that Sinha while arguing that they not only damage the image of his client but also the institution CBI and denial of whistle blower’s name is also violative of Supreme Court rule which mandates petitioner to reveal the source if they file any petition on the basis of information provided by other person.

Sinha has been facing court’s fire for allegedly meeting various accused at his official residence. The court will resume the hearing tomorrow. 

The CPIL, which handed over the original diary detailing the entry and exit of visitors at Sinha’s official residence at 2 Janpath here is seeking CBI chief’s recusal from the probe against Reliance Telecom in 2G case for his alleged meeting with the officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) in the past several months.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay the trial of the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate against all accused persons including former telecom minister A Raja and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

The court, however, sought response fro ED on the plea challenging the trial court’s order framing charges against the accused recently.

Appearing for co-accused Shahid Balwa, senior advocate Harish Salve argued the court that the money transaction was done much before the PMLA came into force.