New Delhi, November 18
A day after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ordered a probe into the Judeo videotape controversy, the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry today after it received a note from the Cabinet Secretariat.
However, former Union Minister Dilip Singh Judeo has not been named as an accused in the case, sources said.
The agency would first determine whether the videotape or the CD was genuine or doctored by getting it examined by the Centre for Forensic and Scientific Laboratory (CFSL) before naming anyone as accused in the case.
The CBI Director P.C. Sharma said all aspects of the case, including forensic test of the tapes and matching of voices, would be probed.
Mr Sharma said the people shown in the tapes would be questioned and the information furnished by them would serve the basis for further probe.
“We will try to determine the circumstances under which the tapes were recorded,” he told a TV channel, adding it was important to determine the circumstances under which the tapes were recorded.
In case the videotape was found to be doctored, the CBI would probe to find if there was any conspiracy to tarnish the image of the former minister, sources said.
The CBI would also seek cooperation from the newspaper which had carried the report and also the TV channel which claimed to have the entire 35-minute video footage.
