A Raja, Kanimozhi, 17 others vindicated in 2G scam case: What experts say

The alleged scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08 which caused, according to a report by the CAG of India, loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore

CBI Special court on Thursday acquitted all accused in the 2G Spectrum scam that caused huge losses to the public exchequer and had been dubbed as the biggest telecom scam in India. The court, in its judgement, said that the prosecution failed miserably to prove any charges in the case. With this, former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and several others have been given a clean chit.

What experts say:

Senior Advocates, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

Justice has been done and the episode is now over. The basic tenet of law is that criminals are not decided on the basis of public sentiment.

The lawyer of Swan Telecom promoters, Vijay Aggarwal

CBI will decide after reading the judgement. It was only a notional loss. It was completely distorted by the CBI. Kapil Sibal has been proved right.

Athar Khan - A Raja's lawyer
 

2G case has completely collapsed because the lower court as per our judiciary the lower court fixes the framework. If the framework does not exist, then it's very difficult to prove that any other court's judgement was wrong.

the 2G case was a political game. 

Kapil Sibal, Congress

"There was never any corruption in the 2G spectrum issue; We stand vindicated; Have been saying there has been no scam"

BJP created an atmosphere of suspicion. The telecom sector is in dire state thanks to Vinod Rai and BJP

I was not the telecom minister at that time. But when I took over, I told everyone that A Raja has done nothing wrong.

P Chidambaram:

"2G case is a scam that never took place"

Shashi Tharoor, Congress

Clearly the Court found that innocent people have been wronged. Justice has worked as it is supposed to work in our country

Mahesh Agarwal, counsel for the accused

What will CBI do now?

CBI has been properly advised. The trial went on for six years and now the CBI will think ten times before approaching the higher court.

"The case was bogus. For seven years, people have gone through an unfair trial."

Other experts:

It's a shot in the arm for people who thought 2G scam did not exist. But, there will be an appeal

Vijay Aggarwal, Lawyer of Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa, Vinod Goenka and others

"The Court said that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of its charges. Thus all accused are acquitted"

All about the 2G scam case

 

The alleged scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08 which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. Special CBI judge O P Saini is scheduled to pronounce today the judgements in separate cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in the scam which rattled the former prime minister Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

 

Two cases have been filed by the CBI and another one by the ED.

 

What is the allegation?

 

The allegation relates to the fact that Telecom Minister A Raja, who after taking office in May 2007, sold licenses/2G spectrum to a handful of arbitrarily selected (120 out of 575) companies in January 2008 at a bargain basement 2001 price. In doing so, he not only violated the law, committed several improprieties, but caused a loss to the exchequer of at least Rs 40,000 crore. The Supreme Court earlier agreed that the process Raja followed was polluted and cancelled all the licenses he had issued.

 

In the process he was said to violate the TRAI Act and other settled law:

 

1. B. Prabhakar Rao Vs State of AP (1985) SUPP SCC432

2. DS Nakara Vs Union of India (1983) 1SCC305

3. Monarch Infrastructure Pvt Ltd 2000 (v) SC287

4. K. Manjusree Vs State of AP (2008) 3SCC512

5. Union of India Vs S Tel, 1 July 2009, Justice G S Sistani, Delhi High Court

6. Union of India Vs S Tel 24 November 2009, Delhi High Court, Hon’ble Chief Justice Dr S Murlidhar