SC seeks CBI's stand on Reliance officials' bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today notified the CBI on the bail pleas of three top executives of Reliance ADAG firm, arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam. Agreeing to hear their pleas, a bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi asked the investigating agency to file its reply on the bail pleas of ADAG Group MD Gautam Doshi, President Surendra Pipara and Senior Vice President Hari Nair. The trio have challenged the rejection of their bail pleas by the Delhi High Court which, on 23 May, had said, “The gravity of the offence itself is sufficient to deny bail”. [caption id=“attachment_70214” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Supreme Court of India. Reuters”]  [/caption] They are in jail since 20 April Their bail applications came up for hearing a day  after all the 17 accused completed their arguments opposing the framing of charges against them in a special court exclusively set up to hold their trial in the 2G case. The CBI had in its first charge sheet filed on 2 April specified the role of Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) and its three top officials for their “complicity” in the 2G spectrum scam. Doshi, Pipara and Nair, along with the company, have been charge sheeted for entering into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the government by getting licences in an illegal manner. The agency had alleged that RTL used Swan Telecom, a firm ineligible for getting the licence, as its front company to get it". “Swan, at the time of application, was an associate of RTL. Investigations have also disclosed that Tiger Trader Pvt Ltd, which held maturity stake in Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, was also an associate company of Reliance ADA Group. “Both the companies had no business history and were activated solely for the purpose of applying for UAS licences in 13 telecom circles,” the first charge sheet in the case had said. “Investigation has revealed that in Jan-Feb 2007 accused Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair had, in furtherance of their common intention to cheat DoT, structured created net worth of company Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd out of funds arranged from Reliance Telecom Ltd,” the agency said. PTI