No evidence to prove 2G scam, says court

■ Says everybody was going by perception created by rumours

The alleged multicrore 2G telecom scam, which virtually brought down the UPA government, on Thursday fell flat as the CBI special court acquitted all accused, including former telecom minister A. Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi of corruption and money laundering charges.

Special Judge O.P.Saini in his 1,552-page verdict said, “I have no hesitation in holding that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any charge against any of the accused, made in its well-choreographed charges-heet. All 17 accused are acquitted.”

Absolving the accused of all charges, Judge Saini said, “No evidence on the record was produced before the court indicating any criminality in the acts allegedly committed by the accused persons relating to the fixation of cut-off date, manipulation of first come first served policy.”

The judge said that the CBI could not prove that Mr. Raja, along with officials from companies that got the 2G licenses, had conspired to receive kickbacks from the sale of phone permits, causing a notional loss of `1.76 lakh crore to the government.

Tracing the genesis, the court said, “The CBI had started its case with great enthusiasm and ardour. But at the final stage of the trial, special public prosecutor Grover and the regular CBI prosecutor moved in two different directions without any coordination. As the case progressed, it became highly cautious and guarded in its attitude making it difficult to find out as to what prosecution wanted to prove.”

Expressing his anguish for seven years of trial, the Judge said, “May also add that for the last about seven years on all working days, summer vacation included, I religiously sat in the open Court from 10 am to 5 pm, awaiting for someone with some legally admissible evidence in his possession, but all in vain. Not a single soul turned up. This indicates that everybody was going by public perception created by rumour, gossip and speculation. “However, public perception has no place in judicial proceedings.”

All the massive propaganda which was being done against the UPA was without any foundation. The judgement speaks for itself. — Manmohan Singh, former prime minister

Congress is treating the verdict as a badge of honour, but its zero loss theory was proven wrong. — Arun Jaitley, finance minister