2G spectrum scam: CBI opposes bail plea of Chandra, Goenka

The CBI today opposed the bail plea of Unitech Wireless' MD Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom's Director Vinod Goenka in the Supreme Court for their alleged involvement in 2G scam saying that they should not be granted relief in larger interest of society.

Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval submitted before a bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi that they should not be released on bail and the case is at the stage of framing of charges.

"In corruption cases, right to liberty of the accused has to be seen in the light of larger public interest," the ASG said explaining the magnitude of the scam.

He also submitted that India has recently ratified United Nation Convention on Corruption which says that there should be strong legal mechanism to fight corruption. The investigating agency, in its reply filed in court, has also contended that they are likely to tamper with evidence and influence witnesses in the 2G scam if they are allowed to come out on bail.

"There is every likelihood that the petitioners may tamper with evidence and influence vital witnesses which will eventually hamper the proper and effective trial in this case to reach a logical conclusion," the CBI said in its affidavit.

The court was hearing bail pleas of Chandra and Goenka, who have refuted all the allegations levelled against them by the CBI. Chandra had told the Supreme Court that the CBI has failed to make out a prima-facie case against him in the 2G scam as it did not have documentary evidence to support the offences mentioned in the charge sheet.

Besides Chandra and Goenka, other accused in the case include former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, Raja's former personal secretary R K Chandolia, DMK-run Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar, Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surrendra Pipara.

The other accused persons included Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa and their colleague Rajeev Agarwal.

The accused also included three telecom firms Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd.

All the accused have pleaded that they have not done anything wrong and refuted the charge of drawing illegal benefits in the 2G spectrum allocation.