New Delhi, May 27 (IANS): A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Friday reserved till June 3 its order on the bail plea of former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, who is lodged in Tihar jail here in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

CBI special Judge O.P. Saini said: "Order on bail application of accused (Behura) is reserved for June 3."

Behura is a co-accused in the scam along with former communication minister A. Raja, who is also in prison.

His counsel Aman Lekhi said: "My client (Behura) being the secretary of the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) at that time has only implemented the policy which was alredy finalised by the cabinet.

"Therefore, why should he be made accused in the case as he has only performed his duty? He should be released as he is just a small cog in the wheel," Lekhi argued before Judge Saini.

But CBI prosecutor A.K. Singh said: "Merely informing the prime minister is not the basis to implement any policy saying it is the government's policy."

CBI claimed that Behura did not put any checks and balances on Raja's "misdeeds" during grant of licences though he enjoyed maximum executive powers in the DoT.

"He (Behura) followed the policy of the minister (Raja) and not the policy of the government."

The CBI prosecutor said that after Behura joined the DoT Jan 1, 2008, he started following the policy that was non-existent till then.

"Making policy is the prerogative of the government, but the secretary and other officials of any department implements it," the CBI prosecutor said.

The CBI's first chargesheet April 2 had named, besides Raja, Behura, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, Raja's aide R.K. Chandolia, Swan Telecom's Vinod Goenka, Unitech Wireless's Sanjay Chandra and three executives of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group -- Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

In its April 25 supplementary chargesheet, the CBI named DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar as co-conspirators after it traced an illegal money trail of Rs.214 crore in the scam.

The supplementary chargesheet also named Cineyug Films founder Karim Morani, Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd.

The scam relates to alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom firms, causing losses to the national exchequer.