2G case: Citing parity, Raja seeks bail

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) A day before his 49th birthday, former telecom minister A. Raja moved a bail application in a special CBI court Wednesday after the Supreme Court granted bail to ex-telecom secretary Siddharth Behura in the 2G spectrum case. He has sought bail on grounds of parity.

"Except me, all the other accused have been released on bail," Raja's lawyer said before special judge O.P. Saini. Raja is one of the 19 individuals accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam that has rocked the nation.

However, Raja will have to spend his 49th birthday Thursday in jail as the court has listed the case for hearing Friday.

Earlier, in an interview to IANS, Raja had said he was not very keen on getting out on bail as he would prefer to walk out of prison with "clean hands" in the 2G controversy.

Raja had resigned Nov 14, 2010 in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General reporting that his 2008 decision to allocate 2G spectrum on a first-come-first-served basis had caused the exchequer a presumptive loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore. The CBI arrested him Feb 2, 2011.

The Supreme Court had in February this year cancelled 122 spectrum licences allocated during Raja's tenure. It also ruled that all natural resources should be allocated through an auction, which the government is now preparing to do in the case of the cancelled licences.

Apart from the 19 individuals, six telecom companies have also been named in the scam.