Three accused in 2G spectrum scandal seek bail
By IANSTuesday, February 22, 2011
NEW DELHI - Three accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scandal - R.K. Chandolia, Siddharth Behura and Shahid Usman Balwa - Tuesday moved bail applications in a lower court.
The bail pleas were filed before Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini, who posted the matter for Feb 24.
The court extended till March 3 the judicial custody of former telecom secretary Behura and former communications minister A. Raja`s then personal secretary Chandolia.
The judicial custody was extended so that they could be presented in court along with other two co-accused - Raja and Bawla, managing director of DB Realty.
According to Raja’s counsel, the former minister’s bail application is expected to be moved in the next two-three days.
Behura’s defence counsel requested the court to defreeze his bank account as he had to make payments to hospitals and doctors on behalf of his wife who underwent a surgery.
His counsel submitted that all decisions relating to issue of 2G licences to telecom companies, which were under investigation by the CBI, were decided by the department of telecommunications (DoT) well before Behura joined the ministry.
“The decisions taken broadly related to pricing of licence, issue of dual technology, cut-off date and processing of applications on first-come-first-served basis. On joining the department, the applicant was only expected to execute and implement the policy decisions already taken by the DoT,” he said.
