SC notice to Unitech MD on CBI plea to axe bail

The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to Unitech Ltd managing director Sanjay Chandra on a CBI plea seeking cancellation of his bail for allegedly influencing public prosecutor A.K. Singh in the 2G case.

The apex court had Nov 23, 2011 granted bail to Chandra, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in irregularities in securing a 2G licence.

An apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya asked Chandra to reply in two weeks.

The CBI plea seeking the recall of the order granting bail to Chandra follows an expose of a sting operation recording the face-to-face conversation between Singh and Chandra wherein they allegedly discussed the legal strategy to help the latter in the case.

The CBI told the court that after getting the audio of the conversation between the now-suspended public prosecutor and Chandra, it ordered a preliminary enquiry.

The probe agency told the court that Delhi-based Central Forensic Science Lab (CFSL) has "opined that the conversation had been recorded in a face to face setting" and there was tampering or editing of the tape.

Contending that Singh compromised the strategy of the prosecution by advising Chandra on three crucial witness, the probe agency told the court that that both Singh and Chandra refused to give their voice samples for the verification of audio tapes.

However, these have been identified by the witnesses.

The CBI told the court that after completion of the preliminary enquiry, its outcome was communicated to special public prosecutor U.U.Lalit arguing the 2G case before a trial court and then it was decided that apex court should be moved for seeking the cancellation of Chandra's bail.

The CBI, in its petition, noted that the court, while granting bail, had imposed various conditions which mandated that he would not directly or indirectly making any "inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts or the case so as to dissuade him to disclose such facts to the court or to any other authority".

The apex court, while granting bail to Chandra and four other corporate honchos, had given CBI liberty to move it for the "modification/recalling the order passed by us, if for any reason, the applicants violates any of the conditions imposed by this court".