By IANS,
New Delhi : A special CBI court will Tuesday pronounce its verdict on the bail plea of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa, an accused in the second generation (2G) spectrum allocation case.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini accepted pleas of Balwa and former telecom minister A. Raja’s then private secretary R.K. Chandolia for early hearing of their bail applications.
He heard arguments from both the CBI and the defence on Balwa and kept the order reserved till lunch.
The court reserved its order on Balwa after the CBI said it is not opposed to his bail plea.
“The accused Balwa’s bail order is reserved till lunch. The court will pronounce its verdict after lunch,” said Judge Saini.
After lunch it will also resume hearing on the bail plea of Chandolia.
“Both the accused have moved the application on the ground that after framing of charges, the trial in the case is expected to take considerable time and they should be granted bail as they are similarly placed with the co-accused who were released on bail by the apex court,” their counsel Vijay Aggarwal said.
“We have moved the bail pleas of Chandolia and Balwa. The Supreme Court has already granted bail to five accused and as the trial is expected to take a long time, we have sought bail on the ground of parity,” Aggarwal said.
The CBI arrested the Mumbai-based realty promoter in February.
The Enforcement Directorate had found a trail of Rs.214 crore allegedly routed by Balwa and DB Realty to Chennai-based Kalaignar TV, a channel promoted by family members of DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi.
On Monday, DMK MP Kanimozhi and four other accused were granted bail by the Delhi High Court. Earlier, the Supreme Court granted bail to five corporate honchos on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kanimozhi and the other four are expected to walk out of the Tihar Jail later Tuesday. Though Kanimozhi was granted bail Monday, she had to wait one more night behind bars as the release warrant could not be issued by the special judge due to procedural delay.
The delay was caused as the certified copy of the high court’s order, which was required to be submitted along with the bail bonds before Judge Saini, could not be furnished within the working hours of the trial court.