A Delhi court on 4 May sent journalist Upendra Rai, arrested for his alleged involvement in dubious financial transactions, to CBI custody for three days.
Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann remanded Rai to custody after the agency said a large number incriminating material were recovered during the probe and he has not been cooperating in the investigation. CBI Prosecutor Manoj Shukla had sought seven-day custody of the accused.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court earlier in the day, had refused to interfere with his arrest, saying it has not gone through the application filed by Rai seeking protection.
A bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said it would not like to interfere in the arrest, saying it has not gone through the application filed by Rai seeking protection.
The top court said it cannot interfere in the matter and asked Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to make a chronological chart of the facts and orders in the 2G case and posted the matter for further hearing next week.
The CBI had arrested the Delhi-based scribe on 3 May for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions and getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information.
Rai was questioned at the agency headquarters along with two others for the entire day before being arrested on 3 May, officials had said.
False Allegations Made to Tarnish Image of Officer: Advocate Rohatgi
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for ED officer Rajeshwar Singh, said false allegations were being made to tarnish the image of the officer and attempts are being made to pressurise him.
He said that 2G probe was being monitored by the apex court and allegations were made against the officer when he started probing Aircel-Maxis case and attached some properties in the matter.
Rohatgi said this was the third attempt to level scurrilous allegations against Singh and the court had once initiated contempt proceeding against Rai.
Rai Alleges Conspiracy, Attributes it to Report on ED Officer Probing 2G Case
Rai has claimed he has been framed in the case as he has been writing against an ED officer who was part of the team probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
Rai's counsel said he was was neither hiding, nor running away and his custody was not required to complete the probe. He said he has not tampered with the evidence and there was no allegation that he has tried to influence any witness.
Prasun Roy, chief security officer of Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, was also booked by the CBI in the case. The probe agency had carried out searches at eight locations in Lucknow, Noida, Delhi and Mumbai.
In its FIR, the agency has alleged that going by the value of the transactions of over Rs 1 lakh during 2017, Rai's accounts received Rs 79 crore while Rs 78.51 crore was debited from it during the same period.
The agency had also alleged that two persons, Rahul Sharma and Sanjay Snehi, allegedly assisted Rai to park the money and claimed that Rai, in criminal conspiracy with Prasun Roy and others, cheated the BCAS and the Delhi International Airport (DIAL) and fraudulently obtained a temporary and later a permanent Aerodrome Entry Pass (AEP).
By getting the right to access all airports in the country, Rai jeopardised national security, the agency had alleged, adding that Rai was not technically qualified and his name was not approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for the post of the director general of quality control of Air One.
Rai also received Rs 1.02 crore from Air One in four installments, the CBI had claimed.
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