New Delhi, May 15
The special CBI court holding trial in the 2G spectrum scam case today granted bail to former Telecom Minister A Raja, observing that his continued detention would not serve any purpose. With this, all 14 accused in the case have secured bail.
Special Judge OP Saini ordered the release of Raja, who has been in jail since February 2, 2011, upon his providing a personal bond for Rs 20 lakh and two sureties for Rs 20 lakh each. As part of the bail conditions, the DMK MP has also been directed to surrender his passport and not leave Delhi without the court’s permission.
Rejecting the CBI’s objections, the judge pointed out that Raja would not be in a position to tamper with evidence as most of it was in the form of documents that were in the court’s possession. The court accepted Raja’s contention that he should be given bail on the grounds of parity as all the 13 co-accused in the case had already been released on bail.
“In the end, considering the progress of the trial, the period of custody of the accused and the fact that all other accused have been released on bail, I am of the opinion that further detention of the accused would not serve any purpose and for these reasons, I am inclined to admit the applicant/accused to bail,” the judge held.
In his bail plea, Raja had also maintained that the case against him was “false
and fabricated.”
The CBI has charged Raja with corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom companies in 2008 at 2001 prices on first-come, first-served basis. Among Raja’s co-accused are his then private secretary RK Chandolia, then Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, DMK MP Kanimozhi, corporate honchos Gautam Doshi, MD of Reliance’s ADAG, ADAG group president Surendra Pipara and senior vice president Hari Nair, Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka.
The other accused include Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, director of Cineyug Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd Karim Morani and directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, Asif Balwa and Rajeev
Agarwal.
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Limited freedom
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The DMK MP has been directed to surrender his passport
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He has been told not to leave Delhi without the court’s permission
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Now, all 14 accused in the 2G case are out on bail
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