Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam along with former telecom minister A Raja on February 2, was denied bail by the Delhi high court on Friday.
Two days after getting bail from the Supreme Court in the 2G case, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura was on Friday released from the Tihar jail after a lapse of over 15 months since his arrest.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave bail to former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, arrested last year on February 2 for his alleged role in the 2G case, and also upheld the bail granted to former Telecom Minister A Raja's ex-Private Secretary R K Chandolia by the trial court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday informed the Delhi high court that its appeal against the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja and 16 others in the 2G spectrum allocation case was 'ripe for hearing'.
Former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura on Friday moved the Delhi high court challenging the framing of charges against him in 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
The Delhi high court will pronounce its verdict on Friday on whether to admit the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) appeal challenging the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja, firms and others in the 2G spectrum allocation 'scam' case.
In a setback to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi and seven others, a Delhi court on Thursday dismissed their bail pleas in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, on Tuesday accused the Central Bureau of Investigation in a Delhi court of discriminating among various accused in the case by not opposing their bail pleas for political considerations.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday told a Delhi court that it would not oppose the bail plea of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa in the 2G case keeping in view the Supreme Court and High Court orders granting bail to other co-accused in the case.
The Delhi high court will hear on Friday bail pleas of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi and five other accused in the 2G case, advancing the hearing of their petitions from December one.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, on Wednesday moved a Delhi court for bail saying the case against him is "false and fabricated".
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, the prime accused facing trial in the 2G case, on Thursday completed one year in jail since his arrest in the high-profile scam.
After 10 months in jail, former bureaucrat R K Chandolia, an accused in the 2G case, was on Thursday granted bail by a Delhi court which said that his case "cannot be equated" with that of former Telecom Minister A Raja and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, now the only two accused still behind bars.
Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, currently in jail in connection with the 2G scam, on Wednesday told the Delhi high court that the 'so called' gigantic loss of Rs 30,984 crore (Rs 309.84 billion) to the state in spectrum allocation was caused due to the government policy and not because of the alleged acts of the accused.
"Within a week, DoT will invite bids for selecting an agency for implementing MNP. We will select the agency within next three months," Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura said on Thursday, on the sidelines of a function by Assocham. Earlier, the government had said that MNP can be started by the end of this year.
Ahead of the 3G spectrum allocation process, the government would invite request for proposals for rolling out mobile number portability. Government had recently announced the guidelines for 3G spectrum and MNP, and had allowed foreign players to take part in the next generation telecom space.
The government said on Monday that it will soon come out with a uniform and single licence fee for telecom service provider, which is currently between 6 and 10 per cent of the revenue of these companies.
As per the Indian laws, foreign companies can own up to 74 per cent stake and thus they would be required to form a joint venture with an Indian company before starting the services, Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura told reporters. The foreign players want DoT to allow them to bid as 100 per cent foreign entities or give them a minimum of six to seven months after announcement of bidding details to enable them form JV with Indian firms before the spectrum is auctioned.
Admitting the Central Bureau of Investigation appeal, the high court said there are "some contradictions" in the trial court's judgment which require "deeper examination".
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the parties shall file brief written submissions not exceeding five pages.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017.
The CBI contended before the Delhi high court on Tuesday that there were glaring illegalities in the trial court judgment that acquitted former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
The ED, in its chargesheet, had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV.
Justice Brijesh Sethi held that the 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act relating to Section 13 (1)(d) would not come to the rescue of the acquitted accused in this appeal.
The matter was mentioned before a bench of Delhi high court's acting chief justice Gita Mittal and kustice C Hari Shankar by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court allowed it to be listed for hearing on Wednesday.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday refused to grant early hearing on the Central Bureau of Investigation's appeal challenging the acquittal of former Union telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
The high court's order came on a plea by acquitted individual and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd director Asif Balwa that the CBI has not placed on record the mandatory authority under the provisions of the CrPC.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja had "misled" then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding policy of first-come-first-served which was to be followed for allocation of 2G spectrum, Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a special court.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate's pleas seeking an early hearing into the appeals challenging the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Over a year after the judgement was reserved, a bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya rejected the pleas of the telecom companies which pleaded that they be tried in a magisterial court unlike other accused in 2G cases as they have not been charged under Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
The accused had also requested the court to take on record the written answers afresh.
'The transactions were done in a circuitous route deliberately and most of the companies involved in it are Reliance ADA group firms.'
The CMM was appointed as commissioner to record 84-year-old Ammal's testimony by a Special CBI Court, holding trial in the case, in the wake of the Supreme Court's direction.
Balwa, who is accused along with 16 others in the case, claimed that he cannot be prosecuted for pushing back Tata in the race as the firm was never in the race to get the 2G spectrum licence
He allegedly advanced the cut-off date to favour accused firms in allocation of 2G licences.
The judgment in the 2G case is a huge, huge, indictment of the criminal investigation and justice system, says R Jagannathan.
From the economy to foreign policy issues, to addressing the serious challenge posed by communal forces which are out to viciously polarise and divide Indian society, the UPA II government has shown a certain pronounced weakness and lack of vision and commitment that could seriously harm India in the long run, notes Sanjay Kapoor.
The court said a 'scam was created when there was none'.
Justice Siddharth Mridul perused the status report filed by the CBI with regard to the present health condition of Chautala and also the medical documents filed by the Indian National Lok Dal chief while extending his interim bail, which was to expire on Thursday.
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