A special anti-corruption court on Wednesday refused to entertain a complaint seeking registration of an FIR against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the former Telecom Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, stating that it did not have jurisdiction to hear 2G spectrum scam related matters.
RTI activist Vivek Garg alleged in his complaint that the Prime Minister allowed the “unlawful change and dilution” of the original terms of reference for vacating and reallocating spectrum. This decision gave the Telecom Ministry a greater say in 2G spectrum allocation and helped facilitate the 2G scam.
“No jurisdiction”
Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said, “The present complaint pertains to 2G spectrum scam and the grievance, if any, of the complainant can only be addressed by the special court so nominated to deal and try the matters pertaining to the scam. I am of the considered view that this court, being a special court dealing with the cases of the Prevention of Corruption Act, has no jurisdiction to entertain the present application. Hence, prayer made by the complainant is declined.”
Mr. Garg earlier sent the complaint to the CBI and also to the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government and then approached the court claiming that no FIR was registered on his complaint and sought the court’s direction in this regard.
The CBI, in a status reply to the court, had said that Mr. Garg’s complaint against Mr. Maran was included in the ambit of its ongoing probe that began in October 2011.
“It is clear that no other court except the special court of O.P. Saini, Special CBI Judge, Patiala House Court, can deal or try any matter related to 2G spectrum scam and there is no dispute that the complaint filed by the complainant pertains to the 2G spectrum scam,” the court said.
