New Delhi: After the defence counsel arrived late during the hearing in the NEET-UG paper leak case, a fast-track court Thursday remarked, “Understand my anxiety please. Every minute here is important.”CBI was arguing on the bail plea filed by Mangilal and Vikas Biwal, when special judge Ajay Gupta noted the absence of the defence counsel despite it being 11 minutes past 10am.Gupta, who had been hearing the case since its beginning, was reassigned to the court following judge Anju Grover Baliga’s transfer to NIA courts after briefly seeing the cases under Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.Gupta Thursday emphasised that this time, he had the order to “expedite” the cases. “You all should be there at 10am sharp. It can’t go on like this. Today, I’m passing the matter over for 11 (am), but please be here at 10 every day.”Meanwhile, CBI rejected the plea by Dinesh Biwal and Vikas to undergo polygraph tests, adding that “nothing remains to be discovered”. The prosecution said, “We’ve collected all the incriminating evidence. Investigation against the persons is already complete. We’ve already filed the chargesheet.” Special prosecutor VK Pathak added, “The result is going to be zero… What technique will be applied to the current investigation depends on the nature of the case, and investigation is the sole prerogative of CBI.”Defence counsel AP Singh told the court that the statements of the two accused could assist CBI in its investigation to bring National Testing Agency (NTA) officials who just got suspended into the fold. “What if besides these 13 arrested and 45 sacked NTA officials, other names come up during investigation after the lie detector tests? Wouldn’t CBI want to catch those new names?” Singh asked.The court listed the matter for further arguments on Aug 10. It also reserved its order on taking cognisance of CBI’s 20,000-page chargesheet against 13 accused after completing scrutiny of the records, with arguments on charges to follow.
