‘Not concerned with his political affiliation, want to protect rights’: Delhi HC on Vijay Nair’s info leak claim in excise case

Senior counsel Dayan Krishnan, appearing for Nair, submitted that the leak had prejudiced his rights in the case. The court observed that while central agencies had the right to issue statements to the media, the court would examine them to ascertain whether the TV channel reports were based on the official statements or were “a figment of their imagination”.

“Place those communication that you may have issued. Whatever you (agencies) tell them (media) about the investigation is what should be broadcast… if they are broadcasting something which is based purely on assumption that is something else… We want to evaluate whether the things reported is complete exaggeration or figment of their imagination or to add some spice,” the court said.

The court directed the agencies to file their responses and listed the matter for hearing on November 21.

The CBI has alleged before a Delhi court that Nair was actively involved in the formulation of the Delhi government’s liquor policy for 2021-22. The agency also alleged Nair was involved in “meeting with the other co-accused and liquor manufacturers as well as distributors in different hotels at Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi for arranging ill-gotten money through hawala operators/channels”. He was arrested on September 27 and remanded in five-day CBI custody.

As Krishnan submitted that whether the channels “imagined the information” was not known, the court said it was alarming.

Krishnan said the statement of an approver would be recorded Monday and that if reported, the statement would seriously prejudice Nair’s case.

Observing that the court was not concerned with Nair’s political affiliations, the bench said it was only “interested in protecting his rights”. “We want to know…what was put out in public domain and if what has been presented in the media is a correct representation or goes far beyond…,” it said.