Witnesses too have rights: Court

Expressing concern over the possibility of evidence being tampered with or witnesses being influenced, the CBI special court on Thursday said that since the 2G spectrum case is of unprecedented nature, their security is a major cause of worry.

“The witnesses would be under a lot of pressure, given the serious consequences of the case for the parties. This is further compounded by the fact that the witnesses are employees, relatives, family members, colleagues and subordinates of the accused. In such a situation, such apprehension is always well founded,” the judge said in his judgment while dismissing the bail plea of DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and seven other accused in the case.

Significantly, the court also said, “One way of generating a sense of security in the mind of victim and the witnesses is to keep the accused in custody till their evidence is complete.”

“Victim and witnesses cannot be left to their own fate while protecting the right of the accused. They also must have sense of safety and security and must have a feeling that no harm would come to their way by just being witnesses in a case and disclosing the truth before the investigating agency and the court,” the court observed.