[May 16, 2012] India's former Telecom minister attends Parliament Tweet NEW DELHI, May 16, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Former Indian Telecom Minister A Raja Wednesday went to attend the Parliament, a day after he was granted bail in the multi-billion-dollar 2G spectrum scam case by a special court in the national capital "I have to go to Parliament," was all Raja said, refusing to entertain any questions from reporters who thronged him in the premises. The former Telecom minister, a Member of Parliament belonging to the country's ruling United Progressive Alliance's southern ally DMK, was Tuesday granted bail after 15 months in jail, but Special Judge O.P. Saini imposed a condition that Raja has to furnish a bond of 20 lakh Indian rupees (40,000 U.S. dollars) as sureity. The special court of the country's premier probe agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), also ordered the former Telecom minister not to leave the national capital without its permission and not to try to influence any witness in the telecom scam. Raja, who stepped down as Telecom minister in 2010 following huge uproar from the country's opposition political parties, was arrested by the CBI on Feb. 2, 2011, for allegedly favouring some companies by selling them 2G spectrum air waves at lower rates, thus causing a loss of 40 billion U.S. dollars to the exchequer. The former minister is the last accused to get bail in the case. Earlier his co-accused got bail. The CBI has already charged the former minister and his accomplices and seven corporate heads in the case. The charges include waging criminal conspiracy against the country and cheating. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]