New Delhi, Jul 27: The CBI today opposed the plea of Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, facing trial in a Delhi court in the 2G spectrum case, for permission to go to Thailand saying his “frequent visits” may hamper the ongoing trial.
CBI prosecutor A K Singh told Special CBI Judge O P Saini that Chandra, who had moved the court for permission to go to Thailand from August 2 to 8 for his business works, was allowed to go abroad earlier in last two months and his visits may affect the ongoing trial.
“Chandra was allowed to visit abroad in June and July. Considering the facts that a serious trial is going on, such frequent visits may hamper the trial,” Singh told the court, which will pronounce its order on Chandra's plea tomorrow.
The prosecutor said recording of the statement of A K Srivastava, a former senior official of Department of Telecom (DoT) and a key prosecution witness in the case, would begin from July 30 and if possible, Chandra should defer his plan to visit abroad.
Advocate Rebecca John, who appeared for Chandra, argued that his client has got a letter from KLJ Organic (Thailand) Ltd and the firm has invited him to visit its sites there.
The counsel said although Chandra was earlier allowed by the court to go abroad but the trial had never been hampered as his lawyers always participated in the proceedings.
“When A K Srivastava will be examined, we (lawyers) would be here...We have not in any way tried to derail the trial,” John said.
Chandra, along with others, including former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi, is facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Raja's former Private Secretary R K Chandolia and former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura are also facing trial in the case.
Besides them, the court had also framed charges against corporate honchos—Reliance ADAG's Managing Director Gautam Doshi, its President Surendra Pipara and its senior Vice President Hari Nair.
The others facing trial includes Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal, Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar, Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani.
Three telecom firms—Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd—were also put on trial by the court.
The charges were framed against them under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, abusing official position, getting bribe and criminal misconduct by public servant.