Ex-telecom secy Behura denied bail

Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam along with former telecom minister A Raja on February 2 this year, was denied bail on Friday by the Delhi High Court.

The bail application is dismissed, Justice V K Shali told a jam-packed courtroom, pronouncing his judgement.

Justice Shali, however, did not read out the operative portion of his order dealing with the grounds on which the bail plea was dismissed.

The same court on November 28 had granted bail to five other co-accused in the 2G case, including DMK MP Kanimozhi and Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani. While granting bail to the five, Justice Shali had reserved his order on Behura's bail plea, saying his case was different from those of other accused as he was a public servant.

Behura and Raja are the only accused in jail as various courts have granted bail to all the other 12. Earlier, during the December 1 hearing, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed his bail plea saying complicity of public servants should be viewed _seriously_ and if he is released, Raja may also seek same relief on ground of parity.

Behura had approached the high court for bail along with Kanimozhi and four others, including DMK's Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar and Kusegaon Fruits and vegetables Pvt Ltd directors Rajiv Aggarwal and Asif Balwa, challenging the trial court's November 3 order denying them bail.

The six had sought early hearing of their bail pleas at the high court hours after the Supreme Court on November 23 granted bail to five corporate executives _ Unitech Limited MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom Director Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surendra Pipara in the 2G case saying bail is rule and jail an exception.

A few days later, as the trial court granted bail to Raja's private secretary R K Chandolia, the high court, in a curious order a day after his release from Tihar Jail, had stayed suspended the grant of bail to him on his own, saying the bail order must not be effected if he is still in custody.

During arguments, Behura's counsel Aman Lekhi had contended _Behura should not be made a scapegoat in the case where the Supreme Court and this court itself have laid down legal propositions.