SC defers hearing on bail pleas of 2G accused to October 31

The corporate honchos who are behind bars for their alleged involvement in the 2G scam will have to celebrate Diwali in jail as the Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing on their bail pleas to Octocer 31.

A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi deferred the hearing and posted the matter to October 31 when the court would reopen after the Diwali break.

Five corporate executive-- Unitech Wireless' MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom's Director Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surrendra Pipara-- have approached the apex court for bail.

They have moved the apex court challenging Delhi high court and trial court orders turning down their bail pleas. Other accused in the case include former Telecom Minister A Raja, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia, DMK-run Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar and Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani.

Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa and their colleague Rajeev Agarwal have also been booked in the case. The accused also included three telecom firms Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd. All the accused have pleaded that they have not done anything wrong and refuted the charge of drawing illegal benefits in allocation of 2G spectrum.