NOT GUILTY
2G VERDICT Court acquits all accused, including Raja and Kanimozhi; after 7yr wait for evidence in case, says it was based on ‘rumour, gossip’
A special court acquitted all 35 accused in the so-called 2G scam case and criticised the prosecution for its failure to prove any of the charges in a move that both the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) see as a vindication of their stand.
Special judge OP Saini, who has overseen the trial of all 2G spectrum cases since early 2011, said on Thursday that his sevenyear wait for evidence ended “all in vain” because the case was mainly based on “rumour, gossip and speculation”.
The 2G scam roiled the UPA in its second term and became a campaign issue in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. After the verdict, Congress MP and former telecom minister Kapil Sibal demanded an apology from former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai and the BJP, maintaining there was “zero loss” in the allocation. “I have been vindicated today. In fact it is Vinod Rai who must apologise to the nation,” he said.
Those acquitted include: former telecom minister A Raja; Rajya Sabha member and DMK leader K Kanimozhi, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura; Raja’s erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia; Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka; Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra; three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG), Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair; Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, the directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd; Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar; and Bollywood producer Karim Morani. Three telecom firms, Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL), Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd, were also acquitted, as were the Ruias of the Essar Group.
The 2G scam dates back to 2008 when some telecom companies were alloted licences and allocated spectrum. There were allegations that the cut-off date for submissions was changed to help some of the applicants; that the first-come first-served rule was tweaked to suit a few telcos; that Swan and Unitech were ineligible to apply but allowed to; and that a payoff of ₹200 crore was made by Kusegaon Fruits to Kalaignar TV, promoted by the family of DMK supremo MK Karunanidhi.
NEW DELHI: Political bigwigs, top bureaucrats and the high and mighty of the corporate world deposed as witnesses in the 2G spectrum case that saw all the accused being acquitted by a special court on Thursday.
Those acquitted included former telecom minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi
Those who deposed on behalf of the CBI included former TRAI chairman Nripendra Mishra, who is now principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former telecom secretary DS Mathur, former Attorney General , the late GE Vahanwati, former law secretary TK Vishwanathan, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India Dr D Subba Rao, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, ADAG chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina and DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal.
Dayalu Ammal’s statement was recorded in Chennai, for which the judge, the accused and their advocates travelled to the city after permission from the top court.
In a rare move, two of the accused – A Raja and RK Chandolia – volunteered to be examined as defence witnesses in the case under section 315 of the Criminal Procedure Code. They gave up their right to remain silent provided under the Article 20 (3) of the Constitution.
The trial began on November 11, 2011 when the first evidence was recorded in the case and the last witness deposed on January 30, 2015.
In all, the CBI presented 155 witnesses to prove its case in the court. Their statements alone ran into about 5000 pages.
The statement of one particular witness, AK Srivastava, a department of telecom official, ran into over 350 pages.
Final arguments in the case started in 2016 and went on for almost a year before concluding on April 25 this year.
THE TRIAL BEGAN ON NOV 11, 2011 WHEN THE FIRST EVIDENCE WAS RECORDED IN THE CASE AND THE LAST WITNESS DEPOSED JAN 30, 2015