The five top corporate executives accused by the CBI in the 2G spectrum case were taken to Tihar jail on Wednesday after a Special Court rejected their bail plea.
The executives are: Mr Sanjay Chandra, the Managing Director of Unitech Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd; Mr Gautam Doshi, Group Managing Director, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group; Mr Hari Nair, Senior Vice-President, Reliance ADA Group; Mr Surendra Pipara, Senior Vice-President, R-ADA Group and Reliance Telecom Ltd, and Mr Vinod Goenka, Director, Swan Telecom and Managing Director of DB Realty.
Immediately after the Special Court's order, they challenged it moving the Delhi High Court. Their plea may be heard on Thursday.
Earlier, the Special Judge, Mr O.P. Saini, said the CBI's apprehensions “cannot be dismissed as too far fetched”. The CBI had worried that “the accused may tamper with the evidence by trying to win over witnesses and they may also flee from justice due to the magnitude of the offence”.
The Judge said, “There is incriminating evidence on record which I have deliberately not discussed at this stage… it's not a fit case for bail.” All five had sought bail claiming they were entitled to it as they were not arrested during the probe. But the Judge said, “Non-arrest of the accused by the police is of no consequence. Bail is to be considered as per the facts and circumstances of the case.”
The Special Court also rejected the applications for status quo by the five accused, who had pleaded that they may not be taken in custody for the next seven to 15 days. Alternatively, they sought to be released on interim bail to enable them to approach the High Court with their bail plea. The CBI opposed this plea.