HC to hear Balwa's plea in 2G scam on Sept 6

Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa's plea that he has been wrongly put on trial on charges of criminal breach of trust in the 2G spectrum allocation case, will be heard by the Delhi High Court on September 6.

Balwa and two other co-accused Asif Balwa and R K Chandolia, erstwhile private secretary to former Telecom Minister and key accused A Raja, had moved the high court saying that the Special CBI Judge had framed alternate charges under sections 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC and it was against the law.

An accused be charged either under Section 420 or under Section 409, the petition said adding that the charges be altered as both of them cannot be invoked together. The offence of cheating under Section 420 and criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the IPC provide seven and life term as the maximum sentence respectively.

Justice Manmohan, before whom the plea came up for hearing today, said, "The petitions by prime accused and others challenging the CBI special court's order framing charges against them are pending before another bench, which has issued notice to CBI returnable by September 6."

The CBI counsel sought adjournment of the hearing on the ground that Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit, appointed by the Supreme Court in the case, was not available today.