Former Telecom Minister A. Raja on Tuesday made a strong plea in the Supreme Court to recall its order of not granting bail to 2G scam accused before the framing of charges in view of delay in the proceedings in the trial court.
Senior Advocate Sushil Kumar, appearing for Raja, contended that it should be made clear whether the probe in the case has been completed or not after the CBI had taken different stands before the Special CBI court and the apex court.
"In the trial court CBI says that the investigation is complete but in the Supreme Court it says that probe is still going on. In the meantime I am suffering and I want to know what is the status of the probe whether it is on or has been completed," he said before a bench of justices G. S. Singhvi and A. K. Ganguly.
He added that the trial court had adjourned the order on the framing of charges, which was scheduled to be pronounced on September 15.
"An accused must know whether the investigation is on or has been completed. If the probe is complete then the trial must begin in the case. Look at our plight also. Find out a way for us. Kindly recall your order and allow us to apply for bail," he said.
He said CBI has slapped additional charges of breach of trust against the accused on Monday.
The Court, however, refused to pass any order and said that he can seek ‘appropriate remedy’. It refused to elaborate on what constituted appropriate remedy when Kumar sought clarification.
Raja has been made a prime accused in the case and has been lodged in Tihar jail since February 2.
Besides Raja the other accused include DMK MP Kanimozhi, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, Raja's former personal secretary R. K. Chandolia, DMK-run Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar, Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surrendra Pipara.
Among the other accused are Unitech Wireless' MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, its director Vinod Goenka, his cousin Asif Balwa, and their colleague Rajeev Agarwal.
The accused also included three telecom firms Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd.
All the accused have pleaded that they have not done anything wrong and refuted the charge of drawing illegal benefits in the 2G spectrum allocation.