VIPUL KAUSHIK Vs. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Spl. PP for CBI so also perused the record placed before this Court including the order impugned herein dtd. 18/8/2023 passed by the Special Judge (CBI) No.2, Jaipur Metro-I in criminal case No.1/2016 titled as CBI v. Bharat Bomb and Ors.

(2.) Vide order impugned, application dtd. 2/6/2023 filed by the petitioner accused invoking powers of the Court under Sec. 91 and 207 Cr.p.C, seeking directions against CBI/prosecution to disclose all the relied/unrelied documents collected by the Investigation Officer (IO) and to produce/supply statements of all persons recorded under Ss. 161 and 164 Cr.P.C., in the present matter has been rejected.

(3.) Facts of the case, in brief, are that on written compliant of Shri. C. Sridhran, DGM, Syndicate Bank, Field General Manager's Office, New Delhi in respect of fraud allegedly committed by bank officials and a group of customers by resorting to discounting of fake/forged cheques, fake bills and arranging over-draft limit against the non-existent LIC policies aggregating to Rs.1055.78 crores in the two branches of Syndicate Bank at Jaipur and Udaipur, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) proceeded investigation and after investigation, a charge-sheet has been filed on 14/6/2016 against as many as five persons including accused petitioner, they are namely (1) Bharat Bomb, (2) Shankar Lal Khandelwal, (3) Vipul Kaushik (petitioner herein), (4) Santosh Kumar Gupta and (5) Smt. Usha Gupta, for offences under Sec. 120B r/w Sec. 420, 467, 468, 471, 472, 474 IPC and Sec. 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and other substantive offences. It has been stated that charges for such offences have been framed against all above named five charge-sheeted accused persons on 30/11/2018 and at the stage of recording of prosecution evidence, after recording statements of about 16 witnesses, one of the accused i.e. petitioner Vipul Kaushik filed an application dtd. 2/6/2023 relying upon Rule 4 of the Draft Criminal Rules of Practice, 2021 (for short "Rules of 2021") promulgated by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of RE: To Issue Certain Guidelines Regarding Inadequacies and Deficiencies in Criminal Trials v. The State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors., reported in [(2021) 10 SCC 598], so also resorting to the provision of Ss. 91 and 207 of Cr.P.C., seeking disclosure/production of all relied/unrelied documents and statements of all persons, collected by the I.O. during investigation.