Raja's day out: will the 2G scam 'mastermind' secure bail today?

In all the time that former Telecom Minister A Raja was in Tihar jail as an undertrial in the 2G telecom case, he claimed repeatedly that he would not post bail - and would emerge from jail only after clearing his name. Other accused in the case, including DMK president M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi,  posted - and secured - bail on a regular basis, but Raja put up with the rigours of prison life, and even managed to jest around in the courtroom when his case came up for hearing. Political chatter had it that his real reason for not posting bail lay elsewhere: that, as a man who knew too much of the shady goings-on in the case, he perhaps felt ‘safer’ in Tihar than outside it. But after 15 months in prison, Raja has evidently tired of the low life - or believes that conditions outside the high prison walls are conducive enough to secure his absolute security. [caption id=“attachment_306729” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“The Special CBI Court will hear A Raja’s bail plea today. Agencies”] [/caption] The special CBI court trying the 2G case has posted Raja’s bail hearing for today. Last week, barely hours after the Supreme Court granted bail to former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s lawyers posted bail before the trial court. Raja’s lawyers argue that since all the 13 other accused in the case are out on bail, Raja too deserves it. They claim that he is innocent, and that the case against him is false,  fabricated and unsustainable in law. Addressing one other key consideration, they claim that Raja cannot possibly tamper with evidence in the case, since all of it is now in the CBI’s possession. However, the CBI has opposed Raja’s bail plea on the ground that the argument of ‘parity’ in the rights to secure bail did not apply in his case because none of the other accused had been charged with accepting a bribe. Citing Raja as “the mastermind” of the 2G scandal, the CBI says that Raja still has the capacity to influence many crucial witnesses in Tamil Nadu, from where the Minister hails. The agency further claims that it has secured new evidence linking Raja to yet more bribes. Whether the court will be persuaded by the CBI’s argument will be known in a few hours. But under certain conditions, it’s plausible that Raja, the alleged “mastermind” of the 2G scam case, could walk out on bail today.