2G scam: Siddhartha Behura's bail plea rejected

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The CBI Special Court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura, who is an accused in 2G spectrum case.

Last week Special CBI Judge O P Saini had reserved the order, following the CBI's argument that Behura could not be let off from the charge of conspiracy.

Rejecting the bail plea the judge observed that the accused may influence the witnesses if released on bail.

“Considering the magnitude of the crime and the nature of the allegation, character of the evidence on record and the apprehension that the witness may be influenced if the accused is released on bail, I have no hesitation in holding the applicant/accused as failed to make out the case for bail. The bail application is without merit and is dismissed,” said the judge in his oder.

Former communications minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and Asif Balwa along with their family members, were also present in the court though their bail application was not scheduled for hearing.

In his bail application, Behura had cited many reasons like his retirement from service, wife's ailment as the merits for the eligibility for bail. The application also said that, as an official, he was just obeying the minister.

Advocate Aman Lekhi, who appeared for Behura said that being the secretary of the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) at that time, he had only implemented the policy which was finalised by the cabinet.

“Therefore, why should he be made an accused in the case as he has only performed his duty? He should be released as he is just a small cog in the wheel,” Lekhi argued before the judge.

However, the CBI countered this by saying that as per the service conduct rules, he was not obliged to follow the illegal orders of the minister.

During the regime of Raja as the telecom minister, Behura was said to be a powerful official in the Department of Telecom and he is accused of colluding with Raja in the licensing process that cost huge loss to the nation.

In the multi-crore telecom scandal, CBI has also named many people including A.Raja, Behura, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, Raja's aide R.K. Chandolia, Swan Telecom's Vinod Goenka, Unitech Wireless' Sanjay Chandra and also three officials of ADAG — Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara as accused/conspirators.

It has also named DMK MP Kanimozhi, Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, Cineyug Films founder Karim Morani, Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Aggarwal as co-conspirators.

So far none of the accused in the 2G scam have been granted bail and they are now in Tihar jail.