2G case: Prosecutor declares Ambani a hostile witness

New Delhi: Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Chairman Anil Ambani, who deposed in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in a Delhi court on Thursday, has been declared a hostile witness by special public prosecutor UU Lalit. While replying to the questioned posed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ambani claimed he did not recall anything about board meetings citing the fact that he did not prepare minutes of the meeting.

He also said that he couldn't recall details on the share transfer from his company to shell companies. Sources say that even though Ambani is a CBI witness, but his statements have so far not helped the agency.

However, his lawyer Vijay Agarwal claimed that Ambani was not being hostile. "Anil Ambani was not a hostile witness. When he was cross-examined by the prosecution he merely said he doesn't remember whether it was his statement that had been recorded by the CBI," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the CBI left it to the court of Special Judge OP Saini to take appropriate view on Ambani's wife Tina Ambani's plea for exemption from appearance on August 23 as a witness in the 2G spectrum case.

"It is prayed that this court may take an appropriate view in the instant application filed on behalf of Mrs Tina A Ambani deemed fit in the interest of trial of the case," the CBI said in its reply filed before the court.

The reply was filed by the CBI on the plea of Tina Ambani who had sought exemption from personal appearance on August 23, when she is scheduled to appear in the court as a witness.

The CBI, in its two-page reply on Tina Ambani's plea, said, "No witness other than Mrs Tina Ambani has been summoned for August 23, 2013." "Moreover, most of the prosecution witnesses in this case now have been examined during trial and only few additional witnesses now called by the prosecution under section 311 CrPC and the investigating officers primarily remain to be examined in the trial," the agency said.

In her plea, Tina Ambani had said that due to "prior commitments" it would not be possible for her to travel to Delhi on August 23. "I wish to state that owing to prior commitments, it will not be possible for me to travel to Delhi on August 23, 2013.

(With additional inputs from PTI)