2G scam: Former bureaucrat's bail plea rejected

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A special court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, who is in jail in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

CBI special Judge O.P. Saini said: "The application stands dismissed."

Behura is a co-accused in the scam along with former communication minister A. Raja, who is also in prison.

Pleading for bail, counsel Aman Lekhi said that Behura being the secretary of the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) at that time, had only implemented the policy which was finalised by the cabinet.

"Therefore, why should he be made an accused in the case as he has only performed his duty? He should be released as he is just a small cog in the wheel," Lekhi argued before the judge.

The CBI prosecutor said that after Behura joined the department Jan 1, 2008, he started following a policy that was non-existent till then.

The CBI's first chargesheet April 2 had named Raja, Behura, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, Raja's aide R.K. Chandolia, Swan Telecom's Vinod Goenka, Unitech Wireless's Sanjay Chandra and three executives of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

In its April 25 supplementary chargesheet, the CBI named DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar as co-conspirators after it traced an illegal money trail of Rs.214 crore in the scam.

The supplementary chargesheet also named Cineyug Films founder Karim Morani, Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd.

The scam relates to alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom firms, causing huge losses to the national exchequer.