2G: Bail pleas of Balwas, Agarwal rejected

New Delhi: A special CBI court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Shahid Balwa, Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal in the 2G spectrum scam case.

"All the three bail pleas are dismissed," Special CBI Judge OP Saini said.

Former DB Realty Director Shahid Balwa and ex-directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Rajeev Agarwal and Asif Balwa were arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam. Asif was also Director of DB Realty Pvt Ltd (a partner of Dynamic Realty).

They are accused of playing key roles in the transfer of Rs 200 crore bribe to Kalaignar TV through various firms promoted by Shahid Usman Balwa.

While opposing the bail pleas of the trio, Special Public Prosecutor UU Lalit had submitted that Dynamix Realty acquired 49 per cent shares in Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd (held by co-accused Karim Morani) only subsequent to the transfer of the bribe money and they all were the umbrella companies of DB Realty.

He had also rebutted the submission of the defence that the alleged "illegal gratification" of Rs 200 crore was actually for the shares of Kalaignar TV and the same was called back after the valuation of the share was higher than assessed and Rs 200 crore would not have fetched good shares.

Shahid was arrested on February 8 while Asif and Rajeev were arrested by the CBI on March 29 and they are currently in Tihar Jail.

Shahid allegedly is direct beneficiary of the 2G spectrum allocation scam with his firm Swan Telecom having been allotted the spectrum licence as per a criminal conspiracy hatched by him along with former Telecom Minister A Raja and others.

CBI alleged that after the spectrum allocation there was a cash transaction of Rs 214 crore from Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd to Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd. Cineyug Films arranged the funds from the DB Group of companies where the family members of Balwa are directors or shareholders, the CBI petition said.

Shahid Balwa had earlier been named by Forbes as the youngest in the list of India's richest and is now in CBI custody.

Shahid Balwa till last year was on the Forbes India list for being the youngest of the 100 richest Indians.

(With additional information from PTI)