2G accused can't be jailed indefinitely: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday while granting bail to five corporate executives in the 2G spectrum scam case said that the offences that were charged against him were serious in nature because of the huge losses caused by the exchequer but could not be kept in jail indefinitely. The bench comprising of Justices G.S. Singhvi and H.L. Dattu said that they are conscious of the fact that the offences alleged, if proved, may jeopardize the economy of the country.

It added that, it is not in the interest of justice that the accused should be in jail for an indefinite period.

 The CBI has already completed its investigation and filed the charge sheet where the court said that their presence is not necessary so as to complete the investigation and thus they are entitled to the grant of bail pending the trial on stringent conditions in order to support the apprehensions expressed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The five executives namely Sanjay Chandra of Unitech Wireless, Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom as well as Reliance Group's Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair are among the 14 individual accused in the case, led by the Former Minister A. Raja.

The earlier judges had challenged the earlier judgment and common order of the Delhi High Court, rejecting their bail pleas due to the magnitude of the offence and gravity of the accusations laid down against them.

While pronouncing the judgment, Justice Dattu said that there is no doubt that the offences alleged against the appellants is a serious one in terms of the alleged huge loss to the exchequer, and that by itself, should not deter us from enlarging the appellants on bail when there is no serious contention of the respondents (CBI) that the accused if released on bail, would interfere with the trial or alter the evidence.

The court added that when the undertrial prisoners are detained in custody to an indefinite period, Art 21 of the Indian Constitution is violated.

The judgment said that the trial may take considerable time and it looks to us that the appellants, who are in jail, have to remain in jail no longer than the detention period, had they been convicted.

News reported by AR for Newsvision