2G scam: Supreme Court grants bail to five corporate executives

 The Supreme Court has granted bail to five corporate executives who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam.

A surety of Rs. 5 lakh is to be given by each of the accused. The Central Bureau of Investigation can move the Supreme Court if it feels the bail is misused.

The executives - Unitech Wireless' former MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom's Director Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surendra Pipara - had been in jail for over seven months. They are expected to walk out of Tihar Jail later today or tomorrow, depending on when their lawyers complete the necessary paperwork.

"I most humbly thank Hon'ble Supreme Court for granting me bail. I am also deeply touched by the support extended to me from all my employees, lawyers , friends and members of the media. I reiterate that I am committed to cooperating in the trial and hope that finally justice will be done, & my innocence proved," said a statement from Mr Sanjay Chandra.

The Supreme Court's decision acted as sentiment booster for the companies these officials represented.

Stocks of DB Realty, Unitech and Reliance Communications were trading higher despite a market crash today. DB Realty has plunged 45 per cent since the arrest of Mr Goenka.

Unitech stocks have tanked nearly 50 per cent since the arrest of Mr Chandra who headed Unitech Wireless when he was arrested seven months ago. RCom stocks have fallen nearly 34 per cent since the arrest of the three executives.

This is the first instance of accused persons being granted bail in the 2G case. On December 1, the Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear the bail pleas of eight other accused, including DMK MP Kanimozhi. They have challenged the Special Court's November 3 order denying them bail. But in the wake of today's order, their lawyers have approached the High Court seeking advancement of their bail plea hearing.

The five corporate executives were arrested on April 20. On November 1, the apex court had reserved its order on their bail pleas. The CBI had opposed their bail.

The five accused had moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court and trial court orders turning down their bail pleas. The accused, who have been charged under various offences under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, contended that they should be granted bail as the charges have already been framed and there was no chance of them tampering with the evidence.

The verdict was delivered by Justice H L Dattu who had heard their arguments along with CBI's submission opposing their bail pleas.

Other accused in the case include former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura and Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia.

Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa and their colleague Rajeev Agarwal have also been booked in the case.

Three telecom firms - Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd - have also been named accused in the case.

All the accused have pleaded that they have not done anything wrong and refuted the charge of drawing illegal benefits in allocation of 2G spectrum.

High Court stays order on transfer of 2G trial to Tihar Jail

 The Delhi High Court today stayed its notification saying that the 2G trial will be transferred to the Tihar Jail court complex.

Yesterday, Special CBI Judge O P Saini who is hearing the case at the Patiala House courts complex announced that the trial venue of the case was to be shifted as per a High Court notification he had received. This had come as a big surprise to the accused and their lawyers, who said they had decided to approach the High Court against the move.

Today, the seven-judge administrative committee headed by Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri said that the court's administrative notification to shift the trial would not come into effect and that the hearing would continue in the Patiala House court complex till an alternative arrangement was made.
A group of High Court judges, lawyers and the Judge-in-charge of the Patiala House courts will inspect the lower court premises again to explore the possibility of shifting the trial to a more spacious courtroom inside the court complex itself, the committee said.

"If such arrangements do not work out, then the committee may also consider to shift the trial to nearby places such as Vigyan Bhawan and Pragati Maidan in the vicinity," one of the lawyers, who was part of the in-chamber hearing on the issue, said outside the courtroom.

The Sessions Judge, the Judge in-charge of the Patiala House Courts, Special CBI Judge O P Saini and the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court will be part of the group.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by section 9 (6) of the CrPC 1973, the acting Chief Justice and judges of this court (Delhi High Court) have been pleased to order that the trial of the 2G spectrum cases shall be held in Tihar court complex, New Delhi, according to law," read the notification issued by the high court.

The notification had triggered protests by former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and other accused, who contended that the move was bereft of valid reasons.

Raja said, "I do not know what is happening in this country."

The defence counsel opposed the notification, saying if the trial was shifted to the Tihar Jail, it would create a lot of inconvenience as everybody would have to get an entry pass to Tihar Jail before attending the proceedings.

"This is a completely illegal order. It has to be with the consent of the prosecution and the accused. Nobody has been consulted," said Sushil Kumar, former telecom minister A Raja's lawyer.

Mr Raja was arrested in February this year; the CBI is handling the case against him and 13 others accused of criminal conspiracy. The Supreme Court is monitoring the CBI's investigation; a special court headed by Judge OP Saini is handling the trial.
(With PTI inputs)