BC Liberal Cabinet Ministers may be impacted, Basi-Virk trial hears as Judge issues warning

Current cabinet ministers may be impacted

BASI-VIRK

By BILL TIELEMAN, 24 HOURS

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett angrily warned both prosecution and defence Friday that proceedings in the case of three former provincial government aides charged with breach of trust will go ahead "if I have to sit here in an empty courtroom myself."

Bennett's statement came after defence lawyers said they had just received 25,000 new pages of evidence in the trial of David Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi, potentially delaying the case.

And Virk's lawyer, Kevin McCullough, alleged that new evidence related to the $1-billion privatization of B.C. Rail by the B.C. Liberal government in 2003 could affect current provincial ministers.

"There are certain documents that may have an impact on certain cabinet ministers and we may have to pursue those documents," McCullough said.

Bennett refused to hear arguments from either Special Prosecutor Bill Berardino or McCullough about who is responsible for the delay in disclosing evidence, saying she will have to rule on a defence motion of abuse of process that could throw the entire case out of court.

But McCullough persisted.

"There are no problems at the feet of the defence. One hundred per cent of the problem is at the feet of the special prosecutor," he said, drawing objections from Berardino.

Pre-trial hearings continue in November.