Being accused for 15 months, a long period of passing in jail in 2G spectrum allocation scam case, Former telecom minister A Raja, on Tuesday ready to walk on the street of public as special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court granted his bail and after few hours freed him from Tihar Jail.
CBI court’s judge O P Saini granted bail of Raja on a surety of Rs 25 lakh and would not try to influence any witnesses while on bail. Along with this, court also restricted his entry in Tamil Nadu without court’s permission and also directed not to visit the office of the Department of Telecom (DoT).
“Considering the progress of the trial, period of custody and the fact that all other accused have been released on bail, I am of the opinion that further detention of the accused will not serve any purpose,” Judge Saini said in his order.
49-year-old Raja was arrested on February, 2011 in connection with the 2G scam and there were other 13 co-accused who have secured bail from the Court.
Raja was the only one who did not apply for bail, but after 15 months he sought bail on the ground of parity as former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura whose bail had granted by Supreme Court
Being claimed that the case against him is “false and fabricated” and “not sustainable in law” he said that both, he and Behura were facing similar charges of abetment, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust, then why his bail not to be granted.
A strong opposed appeal had made by the intelligence agency against Raja’s bail, being charged with serious case. CBI said, DMK –run Kalaignar TV was being accused of getting bribe of Rs 200 crore from Shahid Balwa’s DB Group as a quid pro quo for favours shown by Raja in spectrum allocation, source said.
During allegations, CBI had also claimed that Raja had linked with Mauritius-based Delphi Investment Ltd, in which Reliance Telecom Ltd exchanged its shares and said if released on bail at this stage, he might tamper with evidence.
The judge said that the entire evidence in the case is documentary in nature and the same is in the custody of the court. He directed Raja to surrender his passport after CBI objected Raja’s bail and trying to search more evidence.
According to source report, 14 persons who are facing trial in 2G scam case along with Raja are – Raja’s private secretary RK Chandolia, Behura, DMK MP Kanimozhi, corporate leaders – Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, group’s MD Gautam Doshi, 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 , 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.
They all are accused for charges of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and corruption besides criminal breach of trust that entails a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Moreover, three telecom firms – Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd, are also facing trial in the case.
