Judeo probe first of its kind for us: CBI Director

Registration of the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in the Dilip Singh Judeo cash-on-camera case may be one of the last assignments taken up by the CBI under its outgoing Director P C Sharma. But it’s also the ‘‘first of its kind,’’ says Sharma, who retires in less than a month, told The Indian Express that the case which has its genesis in the expose done by this newspaper three days ago will be the ‘‘the first of its kind’’ for the agency.

Sharma said that while no time-frame has been set, the agency has its task cut out. ‘‘After obtaining the original tape from The Indian Express, we will establish its authenticity and also prove the identity of the persons who figure in it. After that, the identity of the person who handed over the bribe and the foreign company he was representing will need to be established,’’ he said.

He added that besides forensic scans on the tape, voice tests will be carried out to confirm that the speakers on the tape were indeed the former Minister of State for Environment, Dalip Singh Judeo, his assistant Natwar Rateria and the company representative identified as Rahul.

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After Prime Minister A B Vajpayee’s announcement of a CBI inquiry, the agency received formal intimation from the Cabinet Secretariat which instructed it to look into ‘‘all aspects’’ of the allegations.

CBI officials maintained that the line of investigation would depend on whether the tape was found to be authentic or doctored. Besides The Indian Express, the agency will seek cooperation from TV channels which broadcast it.