Startling decision

The decision of the CBI special court to set all the accused in the 2G spectrum case free, is most startling to say the least. I remember distinctly that Business Standard was the first to raise the issue in 2008 in its various editorials when there was no air of the scam in general public. The court strictly would have gone by the evidence produced before it. 

But in cases of scams of this magnitude, the courts would do well to consider circumstantial evidence to satisfy itself. The circumstantial evidence in the present case would be as follows. Dayanidhi Maran was appointed in the sensitive ministry as the telecom minister at the instance of the DMK party. Maran used his position to illegally operate a mini exchange for the office of Sun TV, of which he was the owner alongwith his brother Kalanithi Maran. 

When the Maran brothers fell out of favour of the DMK patriarch, Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi Maran was called back by him and A Raja was installed in his place. Raja blatantly allocating the 2G licences on the first-come-first-serve basis prima facie gave rise to suspicion. Everything was brushed under the carpet in UPA-1 government. Come 2009 general elections, Manmohan Singh, aware of the misdeeds of Raja, resisted the move to appoint Raja as telecom minister. 

But it was necessary that the ministry remained  under the control of DMK ministers so that the actions of the previous minister remained suppressed. The statement of Karunanidhi that DMK had not spent thousands of crores to win the elections just like that, implying that it was time now to make money, paved the way for Raja’s appointment as the telecom minister in UPA-II. The verdict of the CBI court is out but it remains to be seen whether the higher court looks into the circumstantial evidence in the larger public and national interest and create history or go strictly by “evidence before it” in pronouncing the judgement. 

 

Naresh Saxena | New Delhi

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