Overview
- Justice Sanjeev Narula overturned a 2023 trial-court refusal and authorized CBI to examine C. Edmonds Allen by video link.
- The testimony will be taken from the Indian Consulate in New York on a court-approved, end-to-end encrypted platform in closed proceedings.
- Recording, downloading, printing, copying, or screenshots at the remote point are barred, with the trial court controlling display of any material.
- If certified documents are indispensable, only sanitised copies may be sent through diplomatic channels, stored under lock at the Consulate, and returned sealed after deposition.
- The Court invoked Rule 18 to relax the consent requirement under Rule 5.3.11 while preserving contemporaneous viewing and full cross-examination in a 2012 CBI case alleging unauthorised sharing of classified defence records, for which Allen is key to chain-of-custody proof.