Delhi HC gives partial relief to 2G accused, asks them to plant 1,500 trees each

New Delhi [India], Mar 6 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted partial relief to Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa and four others who were seeking exemption from nurturing 15,000 trees.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court asked to plant 3,000 trees each in Delhi's South Ridge forest area as punishment for not filing responses on agency appeal, challenging their acquittal in the 2G scam case, despite repeated reminders.
The five respondents are Shahid Balwa, promoter of Swan Telecom Private Limited and Rajeev Agarwal, director of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Private Limited and three companies -- Dynamic Realty, DB Realty Limited and Nihar Constructions Private Limited.
After hearing a plea filed by the respondents, the court agreed to reduce the number of trees planted by them and now they have to plant 1,500 trees each.
During the hearing, the five told the court that nurturing was difficult and it would cost Rs 6.27 crore. However, Justice Najmi Waziri asserted that they reside in the posh area of Mumbai and can easily bear the cost required to plant and nurture trees till Monsoon.
The respondents have been ordered to ensure the upkeep and maintenance of the plants till the upcoming monsoon season. They have been further directed to provide photographs of their respective plantation drive.
The next date of hearing in the matter is March 26.
The verdict in the 2G scam case was announced by a special court on December 21 last year, nearly seven years after the first arrest was made by the CBI in 2011.
The alleged scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum license allocations in 2007-08, which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the public exchequer. (ANI)