Mumbai: Dismissed policeman Sachin Vaze has opposed the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) plea in the Antilia bomb scare - Mansukh Hiran murder case where it had submitted that due to voluminousness of electronic data to be provided to the accused, it be permitted to provide only relevant data. He has said in his response that denying these would not be in interest of a fair trial.
The prosecution is required to provide all material it is relying on against the accused, to them, before the trial can begin. On Apr 30, the court had ordered the NIA to provide the copy of statements of witnesses recorded before a magistrate as well as electronic data that it was relying on against the accused.
NIA's tedious task of providing 1000 TB data
The NIA had submitted through a plea in July that it would not be able to provide the entire data as it would cost Rs 40 lakhs and take over 258 days to provide these. The agency had said that the electronic record is voluminous and requested through a plea that it be permitted to provide only the relevant data. It had said that if not, it would cause “irreparable loss and damage” to it.
The data electronic data, of the size of 1000 TB, contains CCTV footage collected from different locations and call data records of phones used by the accused for the offence.
Vaze’s reply has said that “Merely because the cost of supplying the copies of the electronic data is to the tune of Rs 40 lakhs it would not be expedient in the interest of justice and fair trial to deny a copy of the same to the accused.” He added that the prosecution has time and again relied on such electronic evidence without providing a copy of it to the accused and said this is against the principles of natural justice.
Vaze said further in his reply that it is his fundamental right to be provided a copy of all the material that the prosecution desires to use against him during the trial so that it can enable him to make his defence
