Five-day CBI custody for Raja, 2 others

O P Saini, special judge of the designated Central Bureau of Investigation court in Patiala House, New Delhi,  remanded former telecom minister A Raja, his aide R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary S Behura to five days custody as demanded by the investigative agency after one hour legal battle between Akhilesh, CBI's senior public prosecutor, and Ramesh Gupta advocate both for Raja and Chandolia.

During the course of the arguments, CBI counsel said that the accused persons had caused a loss of Rs 22,000 crore to the national exchequer by ignoring the directives of the Prime Minister's Office and the law ministry.

The policy of first come first serve in the issue of 2G spectrum licences was faulty in nature and the custody of the accused persons were required since they were evading answering questions.

Gupta, counsel for Raja and Chandolia, argued that his clients had complied with the directives of the agency from time to time and custody was nor required as there was nothing more to recover from the accused.

"My clients would surrender their passports and appear before the agency from time to time to assist them in the investigations," he said.

The court did not accept Gupta's arguments and adjourned the proceedings for half an hour before passing the order.

"Do you want to speak to your family," the court asked. Raja replied in affirmative. After that the court directed CBI to facilitate the accused person's interaction with the members of his family.

Also read:
Explained: Why CBI had to arrest A Raja
A Raja's arrest: The politics and calculations
The rise and fall of Spectrum Raja
Raja's arrest doesn't make him guilty: DMK