The conditions imposed by the apex court include furnishing two sureties of Rs5 lakh each to the satisfaction of the special judge holding the trial.
Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa was today granted bail by a Delhi court which applied the "principle of parity" by taking cue from the Supreme Court and the High Court's order providing relief to 10 other accused in 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
With the release of Shahid Balwa, all corporate executives accused in the case have secured bail and only the three public servants former Telecom Minister A Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura and Raja's former Private Secretary R K Chandolia are in jail.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini, who has so far dismissed all bail applications moved before him in the case, granted relief to Shahid Balwa on the same conditions which were imposed by the apex court and the high court while granting bail to the other accsued.
The court accepted the submission of Balwa's counsel Vijay Aggarwal that charges framed against his client were identical to that of accused Vinod Goenka, Director of Swan Telecom, who has been granted bail by the apex court. CBI also did not oppose Balwa's bail plea on the ground of parity.
"Since as many as ten co-accused referred to above (in the order) have been granted bail by the Supreme Court as well as the High Court and the charges against accused Vinod Goenka and applicant/accused Shahid Usman Balwa are almost identical, following the principle of parity, I am inclined to admit him to bail and he is accordingly admitted to bail," the court said.
Shahid Balwa, who was in jail since his arrest on February 8 this year, was granted the relief on furnishing a personal bond of Rs five lakh with two sureties of the like amount.
The court, in its 3-page order, said Shahid Balwa would not directly or indirectly make any inducement or threat to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to "dissuade" him to disclose such facts.
The judge directed Balwa to surrender his passport before the court and also granted liberty to CBI to move an application for modification or recalling the order "if for any reason, the petitioner (Balwa) violates any of the conditions imposed by this court or creates any condition which is not conducive to the holding of a fair trial."
The judge said Balwa should not remain absent from any proceedings related to the case without the prior permission of the court and should also inform the CBI about it.
Earlier, during the brief arguments on the bail plea, Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit preferred not to oppose it saying the "prosecution has no objectin if accused Shahid Balwa is admitted to bail."
"As an officer of this court, considering the umbrella charges with individual charges framed against the accused, we are not opposing the bail plea at this juncture in view of the Supreme Court and High Court orders," he said.
The defence counsel referred to the apex court's order and cited the High Court order granting bail to Kanimozhi and four others to drive home the point that bail is the rule and the court should consider that an accused is innocent until proven guilty.
"You (judge) have to consider what are the charges against those accused who have been granted bail by the Supreme Court and the High Court," Balwa's counsel said.
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