The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Stamp paper racket trial comes to halt

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Friday, Jun 27, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Stamp paper racket trial comes to halt

Raghava M.

Pune authorities yet to get video link restored

BANGALORE: The malfunctioning of the videoconferencing unit in Pune’s Yerwada Central Prison continues to affect trial in the multi-crore stamp paper racket case at the Special Sessions Court here.

Seven co-accused in the case are lodged in Yerwada and are appearing before various courts through a videoconferencing facility. But this link broke down as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited disconnected the ISDN line for non-payment of service charges.

Order

As this affected the proceedings, the Special Court ordered the Pune prison authorities to bring the main accused Abdul Kareem Telgi to Bangalore Prison and make use of the prison’s videoconferencing unit.

Despite Telgi being brought to Bangalore, the Special Court proceedings continue to be affected as seven of his alleged accomplices are still lodged in Yerwada. They are not appearing electronically for hearings as the Pune authorities are yet to take steps to get their videoconferencing link restored.

On Monday, Special Court Judge S.S. Murgod adjourned two cases and directed the Pune authorities to produce Telgi’s alleged accomplices on July 5.

The disconnection at Yerwada occurred around the time when the Special Court in Bangalore moved from the suburban Parappana Agrahara to the centrally-located City Civil Court complex in March.

Recording statements

The Special Court was to record statements of the accused in the cases registered with the Upparpet police station and the Madiwala police station (the two main cases related to the racket).

Mr. Murgod’s predecessor C.G. Hungund had completed recording of evidence of 456 witnesses and brought it to the final stages of the proceedings.

In a recent hearing, the Pune Prison authorities submitted to the court that the problem was a result of the disconnection of the ISDN line for non-payment of service charges of about Rs. 4 lakh. Yerwada officials had told the court that they would ensure restoration of the videoconferencing link.

Unhappy

The other accused in the racket lodged in Bangalore Central Prison and in New Delhi have expressed unhappiness over the time taken in completing the trial. On Monday, Telgi’s alleged accomplices Bhadruddin and 62-year-old Wazir Ahmed Salik requested the court to complete the hearing at the earliest.

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