If I know that there is going to be an investigation two months from now, in the meantime I will use the time to destroy evidence. So the whole purpose of an investigation is lost. So this government has ensured, by breaching the law, that vital pieces of evidence that would have corroborated the groups of statements made in the Tehelka Tapes would be destroyed, and therefore, this government itself is culpable and has committed a criminal act. If the police themselves had taken possession of the tapes on the first day, then it is in the custody of the State and nobody can cast aspersions on their credibility. There is no question about that.
Nobody can ever doubt it.
The Supreme Court has in several cases, and other jurisdictions have also held, that tapes are admissible as evidence. There are certain standards that have to be satisfied before they are admissible, but that is a matter of procedure. That is why it is necessary to have taken possession of the tapes. You see, the longer the investigating authorities take to obtain possession, the charge will be that it was in the hands of an interested party who wanted the story to succeed and the tapes are themselves suspect. But if the police themselves had taken possession of the tapes on the first day, then it is in the custody of the State and nobody can cast aspersions on their credibility.