The Hindu : National : No bail for Balwa, Chandolia

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National

No bail for Balwa, Chandolia

Jiby Kattakayam

NEW DELHI: A court here on Friday took note of the evidence submitted by the CBI that Swan Telecom was ineligible to get 2G licences as it was an associate company of Reliance Telecom Limited of ADAG group of companies that already possessed 2G licences in some circles. It was dismissing bail applications filed by Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and ex-Telecom Minister A. Raja's former private secretary R.K. Chandolia.

After hearing the CBI's submissions on evidence, Special Judge (CBI) O.P. Saini concluded that the allegations were very serious and that submissions made on Thursday for the accused persons by their counsel were “not of much avail.”

The evidence related to the exclusion of deserving 2G applicants by unfairly changing the cut-off date; the arbitrary introduction of the “first compliance with Letter of Intent (LoI)” policy in place of “first come, first served policy”; the ineligibility of Swan Telecom on the date of application; R.K. Chandolia's role in distribution and LoI compliance in favour of some companies; and the money trail of Rs.200 crore from DB Group to Kalaignar TV.

“Arbitrary move”

Mr. Saini, in his 18-page order, said Telecom officials had stated that on October 1, 2008, Mr. Chandolia insisted on setting up four counters to issue LoI in such a way as to help some of the 2G applicants in an arbitrary manner.

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