Co-accused in 2G case faints in court

NEW DELHI, INDIA: One of the corporate executives who was co-accused in the second generation (2G) telecom spectrum case fainted inside a courtroom here on Wednesday, and was rushed to a government hospital amid high drama.

Surendra Pipara, an official with the Anil Ambani Group who had sought permission from the high court earlier to undergo tests for heart ailment at a private hospital and was allowed the same, fainted in a trial court due to what was called an asthma attack.

He was immediately taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital but the doctors there wanted a specific order from the court before granting him admission.

Judge O.P. Saini, presiding over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court, asked Pipara's lawyer, who made such a plea, to move the Delhi High Court, since it was the legal authority with jurisdiction seized of such matters.

Justice Ajit Bharihoke of the Delhi High Court, who is hearing the bail plea of Pipara, along with five others, ordered his immediate admission. "The petitioner may immediately be examined by the doctors of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital," he said.

"They should also provide him proper treatment."

The other five co-accused with Pipara are Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom, Sanjay Chandra of Unitech and two more officials of Anil Ambani Group: Gautam Doshi and Hari Nair.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had named them co-accused, along with former telecom minister A. Raja, his personal aide R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa.

In a fresh twist to the case, the probe agency had last week also named Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi as co-conspirator in the case, while his wife Dayalu Ammal was listed as a witness.

Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi was named co-conspirator along with Sharad Kumar of Kalaignar TV, Karim Morani of Cineyug Films, and Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agarwal of Kusegaon Realty.

Among the accused, Raja, Chandolia, Behura, Shahid Balwa, Asif Balwa, Agarwal, Goenka, Chandra, Doshi, Nair and Pipara are in judicial custody. They were all present in the court of Judge O.P. Saini when Pipara fainted.