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2G Spectrum case: SC grants bail to 5 corporate executives

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to five corporate executives, who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum fraud case. The executives - Unitech Wireless' former MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom's Director Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surendra Pipara - had been in jail for over seven months.

On November 1, the apex court had reserved its order on their bail pleas.

The accused, who have been charged under various offences under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, contended that they should be granted bail as the charges have already been framed and there is no chance of them tampering with the evidence.

The CBI, which opposed their bail pleas, had earlier said that some of the key witnesses, belonging to the corporate world, directly worked under them and the possibility of the accused winning them over could not be ruled out.

The telecom scam, one of India's biggest graft cases ever, may have cost 39.57 billion dollars in revenue to the public exchequer as per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

A. Raja was sacked in November last year and later arrested after being charged with giving away telecom licences in 2008 for a pittance, at meagre prices of 2001 in the CAG report. Raja is presently facing trial along with a group of telecom executives and DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi. — ANI

Mumbai: The clamour for speedily sending him to the gallows notwithstanding, a staggering Rs 16 crore has been shelled out for protecting the country's most high-profile prisoner Ajmal Kasab.

Sentenced to death by the special anti-terror court, Kasab, in his mid-20s, is lodged in a special cell in Arthur Road jail, the construction of which alone cost the state exchequer over Rs 5.24 crore.

"Besides Rs 5.24 crore that was spent on constructing the special cell at the Arthur Road prison, Rs 26,953 was spent on taking care of his medical needs," state Home Secretary Medha Gadgil said. PTI

United Nations: In a significant victory, India has been elected to the United Nations'' Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), defeating China in a direct fight for the lone seat from the Asia-Pacific region and returning to this powerful external oversight body after a gap of 35 years.

NEW DELHI: The Congress is desperate to have a smooth winter session. With 31 bills pending clearance in 21 days, the government wants to ensure that not even a single day is wasted.

Though the first day, Tuesday, started with an adjournment, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a veteran crisis manager, has already started work on pacifying opposition leaders.

Anticipating trouble, Mukherjee, in fact, started work last week by inviting BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to his home. He even lunched with BJP president Nitin Gadkari at his home on Monday.