Raja's ex-pvt secretary Chandolia gets bail

Former telecom minister A Raja's erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum case, was on Thursday granted bail by a CBI court.

Former telecom minister A Raja's erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum case, was on Thursday granted bail by a CBI court.

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Special judge OP Saini said Chandolia's case "cannot be equated" with that of former telecom minister A Raja and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura. Chandolia has spent 297 days in Tihar jail ever since his arrest on February 2, 2011.

Chandolia was granted bail on furnishing a personal bond of R3 lakh with two sureties of the like amount. The court granted bail to Chandolia on grounds of parity with the other accused including Kanimozhi.

CBI had opposed Chandolia's bail plea saying he, Raja and Behura were public servants and formed the "core sector" of conspiracy.

But court upheld Chandolia's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal's argument that his client was only a private secretary and not having any independent powers of his own while Raja was the "political head of the department of telecommunications and Behura was its administrative head."

CBI opposes Behura bail plea
The CBI on Thursday urged the Delhi High Court not to grant bail to former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, an accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The agency said complicity of public servants should be viewed "seriously" and if he is released, ex-minister A Raja may also seek same relief on ground of parity.