Raja seeks bail, says case against him fabricated

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3400704.ece

Fifteen months after his arrest in the 2G spectrum scam, former Telecom Minister A. Raja on Wednesday moved a Delhi court for bail for the first time on the ground of parity with other 13 accused who all have been granted the relief.

He filed his application to the court of Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini soon after former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura, who was arrested along with him on February 2, 2011 was granted bail by the Supreme Court.

The special court issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking its reply on May 11, 2012 on the plea of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP after he contended that he is “innocent” and the case against him is “false and fabricated“.

“The case against the petitioner (Mr. Raja) is false and fabricated and is not sustainable on law or on facts. The petitioner is innocent and is likely to get acquitted.

“All the individual accused persons in this case, except the petitioner, have been released on bail.... The petitioner is entitled to bail on the grounds of parity,” Mr. Raja said in his four-page bail plea filed through advocate Manu Sharma.

Mr. Raja, who is the only accused yet to secure bail, also said he should be granted bail as he is unable to put his case before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament and the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which are looking into the various aspects of the issue.

“The PAC of the Parliament and the JPC are also looking into various aspects of this matter. The petitioner has been unable to put his case before the PAC and the JPC on account of his being in custody,” Mr. Raja said.

In his bail plea, Mr. Raja has also referred to the grant of bail to other 13 co-accused in the case by various courts.

He said five corporate executives and co-accused in the case — Unitech Limited MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom promoter Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair — were granted bail by the Supreme Court on November 23, 2011.

Besides these five, co-accused DMK MP Kanimozhi, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, filmmaker Karim Morani and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd. directors Rajiv Aggarwal and Asif Balwa were granted bail by the Delhi High Court on November 28, 2011.

The two other co-accused, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and Mr. Raja’s former private secretary R.K. Chandolia were granted bail by the trial court on November 29 and December 1, 2011 respectively.

Mr. Raja is facing trial along with these 13 accused persons and three telecom firms Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd., Reliance Telecom Ltd. and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd. under various penal provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The former Telecom Minister, in his bail plea, said the trial in the case has been going on smoothly on a day-to-day basis and he is required to “assist his advocates for the preparation of the case which can not be effectively done if the petitioner is in custody“.

He said there is no possibility that evidence could be tampered as the entire evidence is documentary. Mr. Raja said he had cooperated during the probe and his further custodial detention is “neither necessary nor warranted by law“.

Seeking bail, Mr. Raja said he is ready to abide by any condition imposed upon him and would not misuse the liberty.

“It is most respectfully submitted that the petitioner be directed to be released on bail till the final disposal of the case,” Mr. Raja said in his application.

Behura, Chandolia get relief

Earlier, a bench of justices G.S. Singhvi and H.L. Dattu upheld the trial court’s order for bail to Mr. Chandolia, setting aside a Delhi High Court order, which had stayed grant of bail to him by the trial court suo motu.

The Supreme Court bench had earlier stayed temporarily the High Court’s order, which had put on hold the trial court’s order granting bail to Mr. Chandolia.

The bench granted bail to Mr. Behura stipulating that he would furnish a personal bond of Rs. 10 lakh and surety of Rs. 5 lakh.

Mr. Chandolia had approached the Supreme Court against the High Court’s suo motu decision to stay the grant of bail to him by the special court on December 1, 2011, saying that the order was “unwarranted and erroneous”.

The High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the news reports on grant of bail to Mr. Chandolia and suspended it, saying that his release would have an impact on Mr. Behura’s bail plea, on which the verdict was then reserved. Later, Mr. Behura was also denied bail by the High Court.

Mr. Behura had challenged the High Court’s order of December 16, 2011, which had denied him the bail on the ground that he was the “perpetrator” of the alleged illegal design of Mr. Raja and cannot claim benefit of parity with others released on bail.

The Supreme Court had on December 7, 2011 put on hold the High Court’s suo motu decision of staying Mr. Chandolia’s bail and had issued notice to the CBI on Mr. Behura’s plea on January 2, 2012.

He will be released after the next Gen elections.