'Long live Raja', say supporters as 2G scam's main accused gets bail

A Raja, the main accused in the Rs30,000 crore 2G scam who had desisted from applying for bail for over fifteen months, was on Tuesday granted freedom by a Delhi court which dismissed CBI's apprehensions that he will tamper with evidence.

The 49-year-old former telecom minister and currently MP, was granted bail by the special 2G court on an application filed by him last week, holding that his further detention would not serve any purpose as all the other 13 co-accused have already been out of jail.

Considering the period of detention in the light of the progress of the case, the court said it was of the opinion that further detention of Raja would not serve any purpose.

M A Parameswari, Raja's wife, who was in the court when the order was passed by Special CBI Judge OP Saini, was visibly relieved as she told reporters outside later that the family is happy and will have a get together. "There will be no celebrations," she said.

Celebrations broke out outside the court soon after news of his bail trickled out with a large number of his supporters and some party MPs gathering to cheer him. They distributed sweets.

In his 14-page order, the judge imposed several conditions on Raja including a ban on his visit to his home state of Tamil Nadu or the Department of Telecom (DoT) which he presided over as minister for over three years.

He had resigned as minister in November 2010 in the wake of the eruption of 2G scam, into whose probe the Supreme Court had given stern directions.

"An apprehension has been expressed by prosecution (CBI) that if enlarged on bail, the applicant (Raja) may influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence. However, the case is going on for than a year and no such incident has been brought to my notice," the court said.

"Moreover, this apprehension of the prosecution can be addressed by imposing conditions and restrictions on the accused. Furthermore, almost entire evidence in the case is documentary in nature and same is in the custody of the court," the judge said before whom two DMK MPs stood surety for Raja's bail.

After the bail order, scores of supporters surrounded Raja and a loud cheer went among them inside the court room itself.

Raja, clad in black trousers and white shirt, too greeted his supporters with smile and blew kisses to them with a victory sign.

Arrested by the CBI on February 1 last year, Raja had moved his first bail application only five day ago, minutes after the Supreme Court had granted bail to the co-accused and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura.

"Long live Raja", his supporters raised slogans.

"We are very happy with the order. No celebrations. Our whole family will have a get together after a very long time," Raja's wife said when asked about Raja, who was in jail since February 2 last year.

Senior DMK leader TR Baalu, who also arrived in the court later, expressed his happiness on the bail order and said, "we are very happy with the court's landmark order."

After Raja came out of the courtroom, his supporters surrounded him and welcomed him with a shawl before escorting him to the lock up situated nearby the court room.

The order was pronounced when the other co-accused in the case were present except DMK MP Kanimozhi who marked her presence in the morning and had left the court for attending the Parliament session.

The court imposed various conditions on Raja while enlarging him on bail and directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs20 lakh with two sureties of the like amount.

In the bail order, the court restrained the DMK MP from visiting the Department of Telecom (DoT), which he had headed as minister, and has asked him not to visit his home state of Tamil Nadu without its prior permission.

The court also noted that the trial in the case has been going on smoothly and there was no allegation that Raja would flee from justice if he is enlarged on bail.

"I may note that all the other accused in the case have also been released on bail. The applicant (Raja) is in custody since February 2, 2011. Considering the period of detention in the light of the progress of the case, I am of the opinion that further detention of the accused would not serve any purpose.

"There is neither any allegation nor material on record to suggest that if the accused is enlarged on bail, he would flee from justice," the court said.