Raja's ex-aide fined Rs 25k for making 'frivolous' plea

Former Telecom Minister A Raja's erstwhile Private Secretary R K Chandolia was today imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 by the Delhi high court for making a plea to it to summon a plethora of documents from the P)rime Minister's Office to help him cross-examine a 2G case witness in the trial court.

Justice M L Mehta slapped the fine on Chandolia, terming his plea as "frivolous".

"The petition is nothing but a frivolous one and is designed for delaying the trial," Justice Mehta said, adding it is "misuse" of the process of law.

Chandolia had come to the high court, challenging the trial court's order, which too had dismissed his plea, while also imposing a fine of Rs 5,000 upon him. Special Judge O P Saini, had rejected Chandolia's plea saying "the exercise of production of documents cannot be a fishing expedition. The mass of documents sought to be produced is clearly aimed to be a fishing expedition and the application is designed to waste the time of the court and delay the proceedings."

Chandolia had sought documents, which included records of the Special Protection Group at the PMO and his residence between May 2007 and December 2008 when Raja went to meet the PM along with Achary.

The lower court said "the task of procuring the records, arranging it sequentially and then producing the same in the court, on the face of it, is quite difficult and tedious" and Chandolia did not give the reasons for demanding them.

Chandolia had sought the documents saying he wanted them to cross-examine prosecution witness Raja's erstwhile Additional Private Secretary Asreevatham Achary.

Besides Raja, 16 others, including Chandolia and three private firms, are facing trial in the 2G case.