2G case: Court to hear Raja's bail plea today

New Delhi: A Delhi court is likely to hear on Friday arguments on the bail plea of former Telecom Minister A Raja who is in custody since his arrest on February 2 last year and is facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.

The CBI will on Friday file its reply on the bail plea of Raja, who had moved his first bail application on Wednesday after over 15 months of his arrest.

Special CBI Judge OP Saini had directed the CBI to file its response, if any, on Raja's bail plea on May 11.

The DMK MP had filed the bail plea on the ground of parity with other 13 accused who all have been granted the relief by the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and the special court trying the case.

Raja had filed the application soon after former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, who was arrested along with him on February 2 last year, was granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Raja, in his bail plea, contended that he is "innocent" and the case against him is "false and fabricated". "The case against the petitioner (Raja) is false and fabricated and is not sustainable on law or on facts. The petitioner is innocent and is likely to get acquitted.

"All the individual accused persons in this case, except the petitioner, have been released on bail .... The petitioner is entitled to bail on the grounds of parity," Raja had said.

Raja is the only accused yet to secure bail in the case. Besides him, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Behura, Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia and corporate executives Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Limited MD Sanjay Chandra and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair are facing trial in the case.

Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, filmmaker Karim Morani and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd directors Rajiv Aggarwal and Asif Balwa are also facing trial along with three telecom firms Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd under various penal provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.