Delhi HC reverses order to shift 2G case trial to Tihar Jail

The Delhi High Court today reversed its order to shift the venue of trial in the 2G spectrum case to Tihar Jail where scam accused former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi are being kept, giving some hope to the duo that they too may be able to walk out of prison like the five corporate executives who were granted bail by the Supreme Court earlier in the day.

The trial proceedings will continue at the Patiala House court complex itself till an alternative arrangement is made, acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, A K Sikri, said.

The order comes following pleas by lawyers and relatives of the accused for conducting the trial within the Patiala House complex rather than at the high-security Tihar Jail, where people can scarcely move about.

Earlier in the day, the accused in 2G spectrum case had moved the Delhi High Court challenging the administrative decision to shift the venue of the trial to high-security Tihar Jail.

Defence lawyers too had brought their matter before a bench of justices SK Kaul and Rajiv Shakdher and sought its intervention.

A seven-judge administrative committee headed by the acting Chief Justice took the decision not to shift trial to the Tihar Jail premises.

Meanwhile, the court's administrative committee said a group of high court judges, lawyers and the judge-in-charge of the Patiala House court will inspect the premises again to explore the possibility of shifting the trial to a more spacious courtroom within the court complex itself.