The Supreme Court finally granted bail to ex-telecom secretary Sidhartha Behura in the 2G scam case on Wednesday raising hopes for former communications minister A. Raja, named as a key accused by the CBI, also to get the same relief after 15 months of his arres.
In fact Raja was prompt to file the bail application for the first time before the trial judge soon after the apex court allowed bail to Behura.
After allowing Behura's bail plea, Raja will be the only accused left behind the bars as even his former private secretary R K Chandolia had been released earlier by the trial court. Raja, Behura and Chandolia were named as "key accused" by CBI for allegedly allowing the massive scam to happen despite being given constitutional responsibility as public servants to protect the scarce national resources from being "plundered". In this background bail to them was not coming easily.
Raja had not applied for bail even once after his arrest on February 2, 2011 while Behura's petitions were rejected by the trial judge as well as the Delhi High Court earlier in at least two rounds of his attempts to get out of jail.
CBI had even moved the Supreme Court for cancelling Chandolia's bail and a bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi while granting bail to Behura on Wednesday declined to interfere in the trial court's order allowing his release earlier.
The bench directed Behura to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh and a sureity of Rs 5 lakh before special judge O P Saini to his "satisfaction". The bail was mainly granted on the ground that substantial progress has since been made in the trial proceedings and "substantial part" of evidence recorded, there was no chance of his "tampering" with the evidence now.
The top court said Behura had been a high ranking public servant and it was expected of him that he would not make any attempt to "abscond" from justice and co-operate with the trial judge and the prosecution in conduct of the trial. However, he would have to surrender his passport to the trial court, if not done earlier.
Meanwhile, Raja in his bail petition filed before the trial judge claimed "innocence" and accused the CBI of "falsely" implicating him. "The case against the petitioner is false and fabricated and not sustainable in the law or on facts," said Raja in his application moved before special judge O P Saini, who posted hearing on it for May 11 after the CBI has filed its reply affidavit.
The other accused, who are presently on bail, include DMK MP Kanimozhi, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's MD Gautam Doshi, its president Surendra Pipara and senior vice president Hari Nair, Unitech's MD Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom's promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar, Cineyug Media's director Karim Morani and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables' directors Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal.