2G: Court to pronounce order on Raja's bail today

May 15, 2012

raja

New Delhi, May 15: A Delhi court on Tuesday is likely to pronounce its verdict on the bail plea of former Telecom Minister A Raja, who was arrested on February 2 last year and is facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Special CBI Judge OP Saini had on May 11 reserved his order on Raja's bail plea for Tuesday after hearing arguments from the CBI and counsel for the DMK MP.

Raja has sought bail on the ground of parity with other 13 co-accused who have already secured it from the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and the trial court.

In his bail plea, Raja had said that case against him is "false and fabricated" and "not sustainable in law." The CBI had vehemently opposed Raja's bail saying he cannot be released on the ground of parity as the charges levelled against him are of serious nature.

During the probe, it has come to light that Raja and others received bribe of another Rs 200 crore in connection with the spectrum scam, it said.

The CBI prosecutor had raised questions on Raja's alleged links with Mauritius-based Delphi Investment Ltd, in which Reliance Telecom Ltd had allegedly transferred its shares and said if released on bail at this stage, he might tamper with the evidence.

"It is suspected that there may be involvement of public servants, including accused A Raja and his family members etc, in the affairs of the said companies (Delphi)," the prosecutor had said.

Raja has sought bail saying the Supreme Court, while granting bail to former Telecom Secretary Sidharth Behura, had not distinguished the case of public servant with others.

Raja's counsel had also said that he and Behura are facingsimilar charges of abatement, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

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News Network
December 4,2025

indigoflight.jpg

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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