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Giving the schedule for the witness action pertaining to motives and means behind Tehelka's sting operation, Justice K Venkataswami on Tuesday said, "An exception has been made in the case of Fernandes to examine him as the first person among section 8B noticees for cross-examination in view of his specific request to that effect, which the Commission considers reasonable in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case."
Fernandes had requested the Commission to let him appear before it as the first witness considering the notice to him was issued for his reputation being suspect and not his conduct, which was the case with others.
The Commission also ruled out cross-examination among the Tehelka team - Tarun Tejpal, Anirudh Bahl and Mathew Samuel - and asked all the witnesses, listed by various noticees, to file their affidavits on the motives and means behind the sting operation within ten days.
"The Commission opines that in as much as Tejpal, Bahl and Samuel have been represented by one counsel, there cannot naturally be any inter se cross-examination between them," the Commission said.
The plea opposing the cross-examination between the Tehelka team was presented by counsel for former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley, Niloy Dutta, saying the cross-examination among the news portal team could lead to the probe taking a particular direction.
PTI
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