Judge reserves order on former telecom secretary Behura's bail plea till 3 June

Special CBI Judge O P Saini, hearing the 2G spectrum case, today reserved its order on the bail plea of former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, an accused in the case, till 3 June."

Arguing against Behura's bail pleas, the CBI asserted that Behura ought not have followed the orders of the then Telecom Minister A Raja, who is the key accused in the case, if they were not in accordance with the law.

Behura's defence advocate Aman Lekhi countered the CBI's submissions saying his client was only performing his duties, being the secretary of the department of telecommunication.

He had earlier on Wednesday sought to put the blame for wrongful allocation of spectrum squarely on former telecom minister A Raja, and former telecom secretary A K Srivasta, saying Behura merely implemented the policy after taking over in 2008.

The agency had earlier acused Behura of not implementing any checks and balances on Raja's "misdeeds" during grant of licences despite having highest executive powers in the DoT.

The CBI also opposed Behura's contention that Raja had kept the prime minister informed through letters about the process of grant of licences. The CBI counsel, AK Singh said that  merely informing the PM did not amount to having recieved the PM's consent.

On the contrary Behura had played an active role in giving licences to Swan Telecom, promoted by Shahid Usman Balwa, despite its ineligibility, CBI contende.

 Behura is lodged in Tihar Jail along with 12 other accused persons including Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and Shahid Usman Balwa.