A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted all accused , including former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation cases.
The CBI had chargesheeted Mr. Raja, Ms. Kanimozhi, the then Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura, Mr. Raja's former private secretary R.K. Chandolia, Unitech Wireless Managing Director Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom Director and DB Realty MD Vinod Goenka, and Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's (R-ADAG) Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd. Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Bollywood producer Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar.
The accused also include Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB), Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd and Reliance Telecom Ltd.
Also read: 2G case: a chronology of events
Take legal steps to punish guilty, says CPI(M)
The CPI(M) has called for immediate legal steps to ensure that the guilty in the scam are punished.
The party, in a statement, observed that the judgement had raised more questions than answers. “Since the CBI case and prosecution have proved inadequate, steps must be taken immediately to pursue the matter legally, so that those who are guilty are punished,” it said.
The CPI(M) maintained that it was “well established” by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the allocation of 2G spectrum had caused “a big loss” of Rs. 1,76,000 crore. “The Supreme Court had indicted some of the telecom companies involved for misuse of the allocations and cancelled the licences of concerned companies,” it said.
Acquittal validates rightfulness, says Raja
Mr. Raja said the acquittal validated rightfulness and his actions were for the benefit of masses. Presumptive loss in 2G spectrum allocation was ‘cooked up’ and vested interests manipulated public perception, he added.
Verdict not final: AIADMK
The verdict was “not final” and it is a fit case for appeal, senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar told reporters in Chennai.
'CBI will take legal remedies in the matter'
The CBI on Thursday said it would file an appeal against the verdict.
The premier investigating agency, which normally takes months to “study” court orders before proceeding to file an appeal in higher court, declared within hours of the verdict that “it has been prima facie examined”.
“The judgement relating to the 2G scam case of today has been prima facie examined and it appears that the evidence adduced to substantiate the charges by the prosecution has not been appreciated in its proper perspective by the learned court. The CBI will be taking necessary legal remedies in the matter,” CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also decided to appeal against the judgement. Read more.
Investigating agencies will decide on appeal: Minister
The fate of the 122 telecom licences of eight operators that were cancelled in 2012 would be decided based on the investigating agencies’ take on the acquittal of all the accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case, according to Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha.
The agencies would decide on appealing against the lower court verdict, he said.
The government's anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), had investigated the allocations and found faults with them. The 2001 ‘first-come-first-serve’ policy was altered to ’first-come-first-pay’ in 2008, he said.
Spectrum was allocated through auction thereafter and the collections during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule were 10 per cent higher than the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, he said, adding Rs. 1.9 lakh crore was raised from spectrum auction since 2015.
The NDA government raised Rs. 65,789 crore from 2016, he pointed out.
Asked about the 122 licences sold to companies including the local joint ventures of Norway’s Telenor, UAE’s Etisalat and Russia’s Sistema, he said the government would take a call based on the reports of the investigating agencies, but did not elaborate.
‘I have been waiting these last 6 years for this day’
DMK MP Kanimozhi leaves Patiala House Court after her acquittal in the 2G case on Thursday.
DMK MP Kanimozhi leaves Patiala House Court after her acquittal in the 2G case on Thursday.
Ms Kanimozhi told The Hindu that Congress president Rahul Gandhi congratulated her on her acquittal. “It is a big day for all of us,” Ms. Kanimozhi quoted him as telling her.
"I have always believed that I would see the light at the end of tunnel,'' said Ms Kanimozhi. ''I have been waiting these last six years for this day," she told mediapersons in New Delhi.
"I was made an accused just because I was a director in a company and for only 20 days, where I had not attended even a single Board meeting and where I had not signed a single document," she said. "This speaks of the depth to which the system stooped to ensure that I was dragged in so that the DMK is defeated in the elections which was hardly 5 months away. There is no evidence against me and justice has been delivered.”
Also read: Baseless, unjust accusations have been erased, says Kanimozhi
Did CBI intentionally mess up the case, asks Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal wondered how everyone were acquitted from a case touted to be one of the biggest scams. "2G scam is one of the biggest scams. It rocked the country and was one of the reasons for the UPA’s downfall. Today everyone goes scotfree. Did the CBI mess up the case? Intentionally? People need answers," he said.
CAG report not to be treated as final: Ram Gopal Yadav
''The CAG report should never be treated as final. We have been maintaining that there is not enough evidence,'' said Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
The judgement speaks for itself, says Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the “massive propaganda” against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on 2G spectrum was without any foundation.
"I don't want to boast anything. The court's judgment has to be respected. The court has pronounced unambiguously that the massive propaganda against the UPA was unfounded. The judgement speaks for itself," he said.
Congress treating verdict as a badge of honour: Arun Jaitley
Refraining to comments on the verdict, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a dig at the Congress, reminding his rival party that the UPA's policy on awarding spectrum was already rapped by the Supreme Court.
"This was a corrupt and dishonest policy, which has already been upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012. Congress leaders are treating this judgement [2G Verdict] as some kind of a badge of honour and a certification that it was an honest policy," he said.
Scam not true, says Chidambaram
Former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said: "A major scam involving the highest levels in the government was never true, not correct and that has been established today."
Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "It's most unfortunate that an atmosphere of suspicion was created and the Opposition gets on the bandwagon that everything the UPA did was wrong. The telecom sector is in dire straits today, thanks to Vinod Rai and the leaders of the [then] Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Our stand has been vindicated."
Former junior telecom minister Milind Deora siad: "The CAG report allowed the BJP to mislead the nation & play the role of a highly irresponsible opposition. This won them an election, but hurt India’s competitiveness & straddled banks with ₹4 lakh crore of debt resulting from licence cancellations & auctions."
Historic verdict: Stalin
Terming it a historic verdict, DMK working president and half brother of Ms Kanimozhi, M.K. Stalin said, "This was a politically motivated case. It was a well-planned one, and with false figures, they built up arguments. Now, we are extremely delighted that everyone has been acquitted. I have a request for the media. When this case started, you blew it up so much to make sure everyone knew about it, now please make sure this judgement too gets as much visibility."
Politically motivated case, says Duraimurugan
DMK's senior leader Duraimurugan said, "This case was a politically motivated one. They want to spoil the image of DMK... After a long battle, we have won the case."
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva said, “We are very relieved and happy today. We knew we were innocent but we had an obligation to appear in the court. We are glad that we have been acquitted through the legal process and our political journey will go on from here.”
Govt should appeal against verdict: Subramanian Swamy
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted: “Govt. must prove its bonafides by filing an immediate appeal in High Court.”
Dr. Swamy, then Janata Party president, was among many who knocked the court doors seeking a probe into the alleged multi-crore scam in allocating 2G spectrum. In addition to Mr. Raja, he wanted the court to probe the role of Mr. Chidambaram in the case. However, his plea was quashed by the Supreme Court. Read more.
Manish Tewari demands apology from Vinod Rai
Congress leader Manish Tewari said Mr. Vinod Rai must apologise for an "imbecile" report.
"Mr Rai, former C&G, must apologise to the nation for throwing presumptive sensational corrosive numbers into public discourse. He was author of imbecile 1.76 thousand crore loss theory that I had destroyed during my cross examination of Rai in the JPC. The court has affirmed JPC report," Mr. Tewari said.
