2G: Chandolia to remain free, rules SC

The Supreme Court today said it would hear the bail petitions of former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura as also R K Chandolia, who was private secretary to jailed former telecom minister Andimuthu Raja, in the 2G spectrum allocation case; and issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation in this regard.

A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi also extended its interim stay on a Delhi High Court order in December putting on hold the bail granted to Chandolia by the special CBI court trying the case.

This means Chandolia will remain free till the next date of hearing. He was granted bail on 11 December by the trial court and was released from jail the same day.

The Delhi High Court had last month denied bail to Behura, who has been in jail since February last year along with Raja. The court said there were many crucial witnesses from the department of telecommunication (DoT) whom Behura could influence. He could also tamper with the evidence, the court said in its 16 December order.

While denying bail to Behura, the high court had said his case was different from that of the other accused because he was a public servant and hence faced more serious charges, along with Raja.

Behura and Chandolia were among the 14 people arrested for the 2G scam allegedly masterminded by Raja in 2008, when he headed the telecom ministry. Of these, only Behura and Raja remain behind bars, all the others having been granted bail by various courts.

The Supreme Court had agreed to examine Chandolia's plea against the high court's suo motu decision to stay the grant of bail by the special court. Chandolia told the apex court that the high court order staying his bail was "unwarranted and erroneous".