The Supreme Court of India has overturned a decision made by the Madras High Court, which had instructed a trial court to call the Union Telecom Secretary as a witness in a case involving DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran. This case pertains to allegations of the establishment of illegal telephone exchanges. The ruling was issued on Friday in New Delhi.
“We set aside the high court’s order and restore the trial court’s order. A bench comprising Justices KV Viswanathan and Arun Palli was hearing a plea filed by the CBI challenging the March 25 order of the high court. “Now that we are inclined to restore the order of the trial court, we permit the respondent to summon the secretary telecom as a defence witness as indicated in our August 10 order. On August 10, the apex court had asked advocates appearing for Maran as Raju had told the court that he would not object to such a direction.
We permit the respondent to have the option to summon the secretary, telecom, as a defence witness, if he so desires,” the bench said. During the hearing, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Maran, objected to the telecom secretary being summoned as a defence witness and said it would be appropriate if he summoned as court witness.
High Court Allows Key Testimony in Telecom Case
On March 25, the high court granted a request from Maran to summon the Union Telecommunication Secretary as a witness in the ongoing trial in Chennai. This development marks a significant step in the legal proceedings surrounding the case.
