Court asks CBI to explain leak of Aseemanand's testimony

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday sought an explanation from the CBI director on how the confessional statement of Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the Malegaon and Samjhauta blasts, was leaked to the media.

"Issue a notice to director, CBI, to give a report regarding the circumstances under which the copy of the confessional statement has been leaked to the media," directed additional chief metropolitan magistrate Sanjay Bansal.

The order came during hearing on a petition filed by RSS functionary Devendra Gupta, seeking registration of an FIR against CBI and Tehelka magazine, which had published the confessional statement, under IPC for "deliberate" leakage of the Aseemanand's confessional statement.

CBI has been allowed time until February 15 to file its response.

Swami Aseemanand had, in his confessional statement, owned up to the involvement of right-wing Hindu groups in planning and execution of the Malegaon, Samjhauta and Modasa blasts, describing them as revenge against similar terror attacks carried out by Islamic terror groups on Hindu temples and religious places.

The confession was recorded in Delhi by a metropolitan magistrate on December 18 last year as part of an in-camera proceeding.

The petition seeking an FIR against CBI and Tehelka, has cited SC judgements ruling the publication of such a statement before the commencement of trial as grossly improper. A team of counsels had during the hearing on Monday claimed that leakage of Aseemanand's statement amounted to "distortion of judicial process and constituted an offence u/s 166 and 228 of IPC".

The complaint alleged that "while Aseemanand was in Hyderabad for nearly two months, no such statement was recorded there" and was "suddenly recorded under mysterious circumstances before Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Dabbas, where even the trial was not going on".

The application also claimed that the "leakage was authored with a design to insult the judicial process and open an additional forum of media trial to prejudice the mind of the court in violation of the rights of the accused in custody".