Court counsels Raja, other 2G case accused to be more alert

A special CBI court trying the 2G spectrum allocation case today counselled two accused former Telecom Minister A Raja and filmmaker to be attentive in the court and monitor its proceedings closely to protect their own interests.

The routine court proceedings, largely involving scrutiny of prosecution documents that are on for the last several days, was suddenly enlivened as Special Judge OP Saini asked A Raja, who is often seen confabulating with people sitting by his side, to "please come forward. You never hear what is going on in the court".

Judge Saini's remarks came as soon as Raja and the other accused entered the courtroom to attend its day-long hearing.

"I hear all the proceedings," responded Raja in reply to the court's advice.

The judge also asked Bollywood director Karim Morani to take a seat in one of the front rows.

Judge Saini signalled to Morani, generally a back-bencher in the courtroom, to come forward near the podium. "Why are you sitting behind? You should sit in front and hear the proceedings and understand what your lawyer is saying and what I (judge) am saying", he said.

The judge asked him to watch the court proceedings closely and said "hear me, hear your advocate and then decide what is happening in the court."

"You must hear the proceedings carefully and if you think something is going wrong or your lawyer is saying anything incorrect, then you must point it out to the court," ASJ Saini reiterated his advice, making it amply clear that none of the accused person should leave his case entirely to their counsel and must hear them attentively to protect their interests.

At this, Vijay Agarwal, representing Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, said in a lighter vein that "Sir, He (Raja) is the Raja (king) and we all are his praja (subject). He is a legal expert himself and we all are learning from him."

This drew a hearty laughter in the court room but ASJ Saini's rare legal lesson was not lost on the accused.