NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Wednesday reserved its verdict on whether an accused is entitled to get at the pre-trial stage documents which are in possession of Enforcement Directorate but not relied upon by the agency in money laundering cases and questioned the agency on the justification for taking a “rigid approach” by denying such documents to the accused.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih asked the agency whether withholding clinching documents in favour of an accused would not violate the accused’s rights granted under the Constitution.
“What troubles us is that when there can be a clinching document, which is very much there, very much exists, and only because of procedural angles, the accused does not get that document. Does it not affect Article 21? Now, the law has progressed, the interpretation of the Constitution has progressed. Can we say now that there is a document in existence, but relying upon some technicalities, you will not get it?” the bench asked additional solicitor general S V Raju.
Raju said an accused has the right to get unrelied upon documents only after framing of charges, and till the trial begins. He said handing over all documents to accused would hamper probe in the case.
The court, however, asked him how an accused could defend his case at the time of seeking bail if he did not have those documents which were in his favour.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih asked the agency whether withholding clinching documents in favour of an accused would not violate the accused’s rights granted under the Constitution.
“What troubles us is that when there can be a clinching document, which is very much there, very much exists, and only because of procedural angles, the accused does not get that document. Does it not affect Article 21? Now, the law has progressed, the interpretation of the Constitution has progressed. Can we say now that there is a document in existence, but relying upon some technicalities, you will not get it?” the bench asked additional solicitor general S V Raju.
Raju said an accused has the right to get unrelied upon documents only after framing of charges, and till the trial begins. He said handing over all documents to accused would hamper probe in the case.
The court, however, asked him how an accused could defend his case at the time of seeking bail if he did not have those documents which were in his favour.