NEW DELHI, NOV 19: The Union Government on Thursday strongly opposed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking deletion of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's name from `column two' of the CBI charge-sheet in the Bofors case, saying had he been alive, he would have been in `column one' where those sent for trial are listed.Additional Solicitor General S.B. Jaisinghani and CBI counsel N. Natrajan argued this on behalf of the Government in response to allegations made by the petitioner, Rajiv Gandhi Ekata Samiti (RGES), an NGO, that the CBI had committed an illegality in placing the name of a dead person in its charge-sheet.Only the names of those accused who were not arrested or were absconding could be placed in `column two', the Samiti claimed in its petition.Justice Cyriac Joseph asked the Samiti's counsel, Vijay Kumar Shukla, to place before him the relevant judgments to explain why the name of a dead person (.in this case Rajiv Gandhi) could not be put in column two of the CBI charge-sheet. Headjourned the case for further hearing to December 2.Earlier, the court had asked the RGES to prove its credentials by filing the organisation's rules and constitution. No notice has been issued and the petition does not inhibit anyone from taking any decision in the matter, the court said.The CBI had listed Rajiv as an accused not arrested. During the arguments, however, Shukla said Rajiv was not named in the FIR filed on January 22, 1990, on the basis of which the CBI charge-sheet was made.
