Former Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad’s counsel Richard Naidu has alleged in court that FICAC has in its possession two more documents that it has not disclosed to the court or the defence.
FICAC will now have to answer questions on whether those documents exist, whether they were disclosed and, if they exist, why they were not disclosed.
Magistrate Yogesh Prasad has ordered that a trial within a trial be held on Thursday to answer the questions posed by Naidu and his co-counsel Ashish Nand.
FICAC counsel Joseph Work told the court that the information being sought will have to be provided through the Investigating Officer, as he does not have the details.
Naidu initially objected to holding a trial within a trial and said Work could simply respond to the questions.
However, he yielded but reserved his position, stating that whether this is the proper procedure or not will eventually emerge.
Magistrate Prasad again questioned Work on whether the documents exist and gave him time to search through his documents.
However, Work maintained that he did not have them with him and said the best person to respond to the questions would be the Investigating Officer.
Nand also highlighted that if the Investigating Officer’s evidence establishes that the documents exist and were not disclosed, the question then is what else FICAC has that could assist the defence but has not been disclosed.
He says these are matters Professor Prasad will have to consider with respect to certain rights he has.
Magistrate Prasad stressed that withholding disclosures will have consequences.
Nand says the second option would be to have FICAC respond to the letter sent to them regarding the questions about the documents.
When questioned by Magistrate Prasad on why he did not want the Investigating Officer to provide the details under oath in court, Naidu said he charges by the hour and that it would be more efficient to have a simple response from FICAC instead of holding a trial within a trial.
Nand also highlighted that they need to consider the repercussions and that the public is watching.
He also stressed that they had not asked for the documents to be disclosed, but had questioned whether they exist, whether they were disclosed and, if not, why they were not disclosed.
Magistrate Prasad said he would decide whether the documents need to be disclosed or not, and Nand and Naidu said they would accept whatever they receive under oath from the Investigating Officer.
Meanwhile, Work also raised in court the manner in which Naidu spoke to him, stating that it was unbecoming of a senior counsel. Naidu apologised to Work, saying his tone had been robust.
