2G spectrum accused including A Raja acquitted by court

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

Former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi have been acquitted by a special CBI court, freeing them of all charges made against them in the 2G spectrum scam, which was the biggest scam of the UPA era.

The Court said that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of its charge, said Vijay Aggarwal, c lawyer of Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka. All eyes were on the special CBI court of Patiala House Court complex, new delhi  as it pronounced its verdict in the alleged 2G spectrum scam case on Thursday morning.

In one of the biggest alleged scams in independent India, Special Judge OP Saini decided the fate of former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, daughter of party supremo M Karunanidhi, and other bureaucrats and businessmen.  The special court delivered its verdict in all the three cases in the 2G case — two by the CBI and one by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had initially pegged a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh cr to the taxpayer, in 2010, while the CBI in its April 2011 chargesheet estimated a loss of Rs 30,984 crore.

The court also acquitted 12 others, including then telecom secretary Sidhharth Behura and Raja’s personal assistant RK Chandolia for helping the minister in handing out the licences. Behuria said that he was confident but will want to see the final order before giving a detailed comment.

Reacting to the judgement, top Congress leaders reiterated there was no scam in the allotment of second generation or 2G licences during former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s Congress-led UPA government at the centre.

In his reaction former PM Dr Manmohan Singh said  “I am glad the court has pronounced that all this massive propaganda that was being done against the UPA was without any foundation,”

“The judgement speaks for itself. His government was continuously attacked by the BJP, which accused him of allowing a massive telecom scam during his regime, Dr Singh added.

“Allegation of a major scam involving the highest levels of government was never true, was not correct and that has been established today,” former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.