The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday asked the Delhi High Court for an expeditious hearing of its appeal against the 2G case verdict acquitting former Union Minister A. Raja and other accused .
Additional Solicitor Genral Sanjay Jain, appearing for the ED, said Justice Brijesh Sethi, who has been hearing the appeals filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED in the case, was retiring on November 30 this year.
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The CBI had already concluded its arguments before Justice Sethi in January this year, but for various reasons, including the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, further hearings could not be held, said Mr. Jain.
The Additional Solicitor General urged that the respondents in the case to conclude their arguments before September so that ED could also make its submission and “wrap up” proceedings before Justice Sethi retires.
“So far as the ED's case is concerned, there is an order of acquittal which is totally based on the logic and rationale of the CBI's case verdict. Therefore it is only a consequential order. There was no separate reasoning given for the ED’s case,” Mr. Jain added.
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Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for some of the accused in the case, opposed the plea on the ground that the CBI and ED's case were different.
Taking note of Mr. Jain's submission, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani ordered that the ED’s case be heard together with the CBI's case which is pending before Justice Sethi.
In December 2017, a Special CBI Court in New Delhi acquitted Mr. Raja, Kanimozhi and others in the CBI and ED cases relating to the 2G case noting that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove the charges.
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The Special CBI Court also acquitted 17 others, including late DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, film producer Karim Morani, P. Amirtham and Sharad Kumar, director of Kalaignar TV in the ED case.
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On March 19, 2018, ED approached the High Court challenging the special court’s order acquitting all the accused. A day later, the CBI too challenged in the HC the acquittal of the accused in the case.
