New Delhi:
A Delhi court on Monday allowed CBI to bring 80 more witnesses, who it claimed were not listed earlier due to "inadvertence", in the trial against INLD chief and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
Special CBI Judge Manu Rai Sethi allowed the agency's plea to lead 80 additional prosecution witnesses and as many as 15 documents which the agency claimed could not be filed earlier due to oversight.
Allowing CBI's plea, the judge said, "In considered opinion of this court, the chargesheet filed by probe agency cannot be deemed to be a document which cannot later on be supplemented.
"In case there is any lapse on part of Investigating Officer or even of the Investigating Agency in not placing on record complete list of witnesses and documents at the initial stage, obviously, prosecution should not be made to suffer for the same...."
The CBI had originally filed statement of 37 witnesses with the charge sheet.
Opposing CBI's plea, Mr Chautala's counsel Harish Sharma, said, "great prejudice would be caused to his client if CBI's plea is allowed as it would mean 'facing a de-novo trial' (a new trial)."
The court, however, said in case the additional documents sought to be placed on record by the CBI relate to any prosecution witness already examined, the defence would be at liberty to recall that witness.
Earlier, the court had also allowed CBI to bring 97 additional witnesses and 44 documents against his son Abhay Chautala in a similar case.
Meanwhile, Mr Sharma also sought return of documents seized by CBI in the case but not relied upon by it.
The court asked CBI to file its reply by July 12 while also directing that sufficient number of prosecution witnesses be summoned for recording of their statements.
The CBI had registered a case of disproportionate assets against O P Chautala and his sons Ajay and Abhay on a complaint of Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala.
The probe agency also accused Mr Chautala of possessing 189 per cent more assets than his legal income from 1993-2006.
Mr Chautala and his son were sentenced to ten years imprisonment early this year by another CBI court in the 1999-2000 junior teacher recruitment scam.
Mr Chautala is at present out on interim bail on medical grounds.