New Delhi, May 11 (PTI): The CBI today opposed in a Delhi court the bail plea of former Telecom Minister A Raja, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation case on February 2 last year, saying there is a new allegation that he got Rs 200 crores as bribe and it is being probed.
CBI prosecutor A K Singh opposed Raja's bail plea saying there is a new allegation that he has received Rs 200 crores as bribe and this is being investigated.
"I am strongly opposing the bail plea. This accused (Raja) and other public servants are also involved in other tranche of Rs 200 crore which they have received as bribe and this was not known earlier and has come up during the investigation," Singh told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.
The court reserved its order on Raja's bail plea for May 15 after hearing the arguments from Raja's counsel and that of the CBI.
"Arguments on the bail plea heard. Put up for orders on May 15," the judge said.
Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who appeared for Raja, told the court that the former telecom minister should be granted bail as all the other co-accused in the case have been granted it, either by the Supreme Court or the Delhi High Court or the trial court.
Referring to the Supreme Court's order granting bail to co-accused and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Gupta said the apex court has not distinguished the case of a public servant from others.
"The Supreme Court (in the order granting bail to Behura) had declined to distinguish the case of the public servant from others. Raja is no longer a minister or near the department (DoT). He is in custody for the longest period and record indicates that he was the most co-operative among the accused during the course of trial," Gupta said while pressing for Raja's bail. Raja's counsel Gupta said his client would be available for trial and there is no possibility that he would interfere with the recording of the statement of the witnesses in the case.
He said if granted bail, he is ready to abide by all the conditions imposed by the court.
The CBI opposed the bail plea saying there was no parity in Raja's case with those of other co-accused and even with that of Behura as there was no charge of accepting bribe against him.
Besides Raja, the other accused in the 2G scam are, Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom promoters Vinod Goenka and Shahid Usman Balwa and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair.
Apart from the above, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, filmmaker Karim Morani, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd directors Rajiv Aggarwal and Asif Balwa.
Besides these, three telecom firms Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd are also accused in the 2G scam.
The CBI, in its third chargesheet arising out of the probe into the 2G scam had named Essar Group promoters Anshuman and Ravi Ruia, Essar Group Director Vikas Saraf and Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan and I P Khaitan, besides three telecom companies Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding as accused in the case.
Charges have yet not been framed against the Ruias, Khaitans and Saraf.