Accused entitled to 'list' of unrelied documents before framing of charge: Delhi HC

In a significant judgment, the Delhi High Court has ruled that accused are entitled to "list" of documents and statements "not relied upon" by an investigating agency "before the framing of charges" by the court against them (accused).

The HC has also ruled that the accused have the right to "inspect" unrelied documents and statements collected by an investigating agency in its Malkhana (where such documents are kept) before the framing of charges.

The judgment will have a significant bearing on high profile cases being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) involving some high profile accused.


Until now, the accused are not entitled to have "list" of documents and statements which have not been relied upon by the probe agencies before the framing of charges.

In another significant finding, the HC has held that after the trial commences, i.e after framing of charges against the accused, the accused have the "liberty to call" such unrelied documents.

The direction was passed last week by the Delhi HC in a plea filed by Dheeraj Wadhawan, promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd, accused in an alleged loan fraud of ₹34,614 crore by DHFL.

Appearing on behalf of Wadhawan, advocate Vijay Aggarwal argued that like an archaeologist, the investigator must brush layers of evidence to reach the truth. Arguing that the probe agency needs to be impartial, Aggarwal had contended that a prosecutor cannot convert himself into a persecutor by submitting one side of the investigation and by withholding relevant portions that would favor the accused person.

It might be mentioned here that the judgment which is likely to have an effect on some of the high-profile cases include money laundering probe against Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, former promoters of Fortis; Lalu Prasad in the IRCTC hotel scandal; Bhushan Industries in the money laundering probe and coal scams being investigated by the CBI.