NEW DELHI: A special CBI
court on Tuesday granted bail to former telecom minister A Raja, who is a
prime accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam and has been in
custody for the past 15 months.
Raja's counsel had argued for bail on grounds of parity. The court granted bail to Raja on his furnishing personal and surety bonds of Rs 20 lakh each. Raja was also directed not to visit Tamil Nadu without the court's prior permission.
On May 11 special CBI judge O P Saini had reserved his order on Raja's bail plea for today after hearing arguments from the CBI and counsel for the DMK MP.
Raja has sought bail on the ground of parity with other 13 co-accused who have already secured it from the Supreme Court, Delhi high court and the trial court. In his bail plea, Raja said that the case against him was "false and fabricated" and "not sustainable in law".
The CBI had vehemently opposed Raja's bail saying he could not be released on the ground of parity as the charges levelled against him were of serious nature. During the probe, it had come to light that Raja and others received bribe of Rs 200 crore in connection with the scam, it said.
Raja had filed the application soon after former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, who was arrested along with him on February 2 last year, was granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Besides Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Behura, Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia , Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Limited MD Sanjay Chandra and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambgroup executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair are facing trial in the case.
Raja's counsel had argued for bail on grounds of parity. The court granted bail to Raja on his furnishing personal and surety bonds of Rs 20 lakh each. Raja was also directed not to visit Tamil Nadu without the court's prior permission.
On May 11 special CBI judge O P Saini had reserved his order on Raja's bail plea for today after hearing arguments from the CBI and counsel for the DMK MP.
Raja has sought bail on the ground of parity with other 13 co-accused who have already secured it from the Supreme Court, Delhi high court and the trial court. In his bail plea, Raja said that the case against him was "false and fabricated" and "not sustainable in law".
The CBI had vehemently opposed Raja's bail saying he could not be released on the ground of parity as the charges levelled against him were of serious nature. During the probe, it had come to light that Raja and others received bribe of Rs 200 crore in connection with the scam, it said.
Raja had filed the application soon after former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, who was arrested along with him on February 2 last year, was granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Besides Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Behura, Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia , Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Limited MD Sanjay Chandra and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambgroup executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair are facing trial in the case.
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