Former telecom minister A Raja confirmed on Thursday that he is considering applying for bail for the first time since his arrest on February 2. The Indian Express had quoted Rajas lawyer Sushil Kumar on Wednesday as saying that his client would apply for bail in the light of the release of five of the accused in the 2G spectrum case. Talking to reporters outside the special court hearing the 2G case on Thursday,Raja said he would consider applying for bail after the bail applications of the other accused are disposed of. Raja also hinted that he was planning to end his boycott of the cross-examination of prosecution witnesses soon,saying that he would examine those witnesses concerned with policy matters. Till date,the witnesses are testifying about Swan Telecom and Reliance Telecom Ltd and I have nothing to do with them, he said. He said he was preparing his defence. I am reading the chargesheets,statement of witnesses and other documents related to the case. I have made a chart of what witnesses are saying (in the court),what evidence is there and what are the contradictions. I am myself a lawyer and I know how trial is conducted, he said. On being asked about Sukh Rams sentencing in the graft case,Raja said he is too old and had met him in jail. Kanimozhi expressed surprised when informed about Sharad Pawar being slapped: Where did the incident take place? Why was he (the assailant) not put in jail (after assaulting Sukh Ram)? Meanwhile,the prosecution on Thursday submitted the second list of witnesses to be examined before the special CBI court hearing the case trial. The list has 12 names,including former TRAI chairman Nripendra Mishra and Aseervatham Achary,alleged associate of Raja. They are scheduled to be examined between December 2 and December 23. Some of the witnesses,whose names were part of the first list,would also be summoned again as they could not testify earlier.
