A sessions court has reserved its order on the bail application of 83-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy to March 22. The court on Tuesday allowed an application moved by National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking to submit additional documents in support of its opposition to Swamy’s bail plea.
The agency relied on an internal report made by one of its officials from Ranchi, which was part of the investigating officer’s case diary. It was showed only to the special judge. The NIA claimed that the probe in the case is continuing and the additional evidence was submitted as it surfaced during the probe.
Swamy’s lawyer Sharif Shaikh opposed this stating that the prosecution cannot rely on the case diary which is maintained to assist the court in understanding the progress of an ongoing investigation. Shaikh said that the NIA should provide a copy to Swamy of documents it is relying on. Shaikh said that the NIA was delaying the hearing on the bail application which was filed over two months ago.
