A Delhi court on Friday reserved its order on the bail plea of former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura, an accused in the 2G spectrum case.
“Put up for order on June 3,” Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini said after the arguments on Mr. Behura’s bail plea were concluded.
During the arguments, the Central Bureau of Investigation said that Mr. Behura should 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.
“He (Mr. Behura) was not obliged to follow the orders of the Minister (Mr. Raja), if they were not in accordance with the law,” CBI prosecutor A.K. Singh said.
Senior Advocate Aman Lekhi, appearing for Mr. Behura, countered the CBI’s submissions saying his client was only performing his duties, being the Secretary of the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).
The agency had earlier said Mr. Behura did not put any check and balance on Mr. Raja’s “misdeeds” during grant of licences despite having highest executive powers in the DoT.
The CBI had also opposed Mr. Behura’s plea that the Prime Minister was informed by Mr. Raja through letters about the process of grant of licences, saying mere informing him did not mean that he got the consent on the issue.
The agency had pointed out that Mr. Behura had played an active role in giving licences to Swan Telecom, promoted by Shahid Usman Balwa, despite its ineligibility.
Mr. Behura is lodged in Tihar Jail along with 12 other accused persons including Mr. Raja, DMK MP K. Kanimozhi and Mr. Balwa.
