Five of the 14 accused in the 2G case secured bail on Wednesday, turning the sombre trial court into a virtual party zone and triggering revelry that climaxed in the night when the corporate executives drove out of Tihar jail in their luxury cars.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court, situated hardly half a kilometre from the trial court, granted bail to five corporate executives: Unitech managing director Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom director Vinod Goenka besides Reliance Telecom officials Hari Nair, Surendra Pipara and Gautam Doshi, ending their seven-month stay in prison. The Bench questioned the reasoning of the Delhi High Court and the pertinent CBI court for not granting bail to the accused in the alleged multi-crore spectrum allocation scam.
Ever since the arrests related to the 2G case began in February, this is the first time that any accused got bail. That was one reason for the lucky among them — and their families present at the trial court in Delhi’s Patiala House — to break into celebration. What followed was free flow of sweets, chocolates, hugs and tears in the tiny trial courtroom, prompting a miffed special court judge O P Saini to direct everyone — apart from the accused, lawyers and the witnesses — to step out.
| 2G CASE: STATUS REPORT |
| On November 23, after 7 months of judicial custody, the Supreme Court granted bail to the first lot of the 2G-accused: Sanjay Chandra, Managing Director, Unitech Hari Nair, Surendra Pipara and Gautam Doshi, executives of Reliance Telecom Vinod Goenka, Director, Swan Telecom (All 5 were arrested on April 20, 2011) |
| The next bail hearing on December 1 at Delhi High Court for: Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP, DMK Karim Morani, film producer Sharad Kumar, MD, Kalaignar TV Asif Balwa & Rajeev Agarwal, Directors, Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetable (Balwa & Agarwal arrested on April 29, Morani on April 30, Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar May 20. Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar have moved court to advance the date of hearing.) |
| Delhi High Court has asked for CBI response by December 1 on the bail plea of: Siddharth Behura, Former DoT Secretary (Taken to judicial custody on February 17. Behura also sought advancement of date of hearing) |
| 2G accused not listed for bail hearing in any court: A Raja, former telecom minister & DMK MP RK Chandolia, Raja’s personal secretary Shahid Balwa, promoter, Swan Telecom (Raja and Chandolia were taken to judicial custody on February 17, Balwa on February 18. Raja has not applied for bail yet. Pleas of the other two were rejected earlier.) |
| Source: Court Documents, Lawyers Handling 2G Case. |
As for the trial of the case, the address is, after all, not shifting to the far-flung Tihar. The High Court agreed with the petition of the defence counsels that the 2G case trial should not move to the Tihar court complex. Three options have been given to the Saini’s court to hold the trial: remove of the wall of the adjacent court room, shift the trial to Vigyan Bhawan or, third, to the India Trade Promotion Organisation at Pragati Maidan. A decision will be taken soon by a Delhi High Court team.
Overall, the other accused now hope that the apex court order will set a precedent. They are seeking court intervention to advance their bail hearing date from December 1. There is one person, still, in no hurry apparently: former telecom minister A Raja. The Tamil Nadu MP said he was only fighting for his innocence and acquittal. “Let them all go,” he told Business Standard, when asked about his bail application plan. The 48-year-old DMK leader is the only 2G accused who has not applied for bail even once.
Raja’s party colleague, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, is awaiting a bail. The hearing on her plea is listed for December 1 in the Delhi High Court, but Kanimozhi — daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi — has already sought an earlier date for bail. Five more — film producer Karim Morani of Cineyug, Kalaignar TV managing director Sharad Kumar, Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables directors Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura — have also sought advancement of bail plea hearing date.
Senior counsel Majeed Memon says these accused should also now get bail. For, “as far as bail jurisprudence goes, jail is an exception and bail is a right,” he notes.
There’s a high degree of expectation that bail would — rather, soon — be granted to the other accused too. “This order,” notes senior advocate Aman Lekhi, “will do away with the lynch mob mentality where not granting bail was being used as a punishment.”
The apex court, in its verdict, criticised the CBI court and the Delhi High Court for not having granted bail to the 2G accused. The high court’s reasoning is “a denial of the whole basis of our system of law and normal role of the bail system,” the two-judge bench said. “It transcends respect for the requirement that a man shall be considered innocent until he is found guilty.”
Justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu stated they were “conscious” that the accused were charged with economic offences of huge magnitude — and that the offences alleged, if proved, “may jeopardise” the country’s economy. Even so, the probe agency has already completed its investigation and the “chargesheet is already filed”.
The bench also said though the CBI contended that there is a possibility of the applicants tampering witnesses, they have not placed any material in support of the allegation.
Among the accused whose bail applications are not listed for hearing are Swan Telecom MD Shahid Balwa besides R K Chandolia, who was personal secretary to Raja when he was in the UPA cabinet. Both are likely to file fresh applications for bail soon. For Raja, the move may come after others got bail.
Pipara, one of the accused to get bail on Wednesday, had shed over 33 kg of weight in the past seven months, but was visibly happy to be out. His wife too looked ecstatic. “I cannot describe how happy I am now,” she said. “I don’t know who is responsible for getting us this verdict, but I am very thankful.”
Unitech’s Chandra said he was thankful to the Supreme Court for granting him bail. “I am also deeply touched by the support extended to me by all my employees, lawyers , friends and members of the media,” he said in a statement.
Those granted bail had to execute a bond with two solvent sureties, each for Ra 5 lakh. The Bench made it clear that the appellants should not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him to disclose such facts to the court or to any other authority.
It also granted liberty to the CBI to seek modification or recalling of the order passed by this court, if for any reason, the appellants violated any of the conditions imposed.
