New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister A. Raja, DMK MP M. Kanimozhi and 15 others were acquitted this morning of charges in what was described as India’s biggest telecom scandal, the “2G Scam.”
The Judge said investigators could not prove that Raja, along with officials from companies that won the licenses for telecom services, had conspired to receive kickbacks from the sale of phone permits, causing a loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore to the Government.
Reading the operative part of the judgement, the Judge said: “I have no hesitation in holding that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the charges and all the accused are acquitted of the charges.”
The case became the centrepiece of allegations of egregious corruption on then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s watch. But as the Congress called it a vindication of their Government, the ruling BJP has pointed out that the Supreme Court had accepted that there was corruption and cancelled all 122 licenses handed out by Raja.
Reacting to the verdict, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pointed out that the Supreme Court had in 2012 held that the 2G policy of the Congress-led UPA Government was “corrupt and dishonest.” Jaitley said: “That this was a corrupt, dishonest policy was upheld by the SC in February 2012. Each and every case of spectrum allocation was quashed by the SC as unfair and arbitrary.”
Raja, who had defended himself in Court and cross-examined all the witnesses, was in tears. So were his family members. The former Minister spent nearly one year in prison after his arrest in 2011. Kanimozhi, the daughter of DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi said: “Justice has prevailed.”
The “2G” trial began in 2011, a year after the national auditor said in its report that there had been massive irregularities in the allocation of second generation or 2G licences when Raja was the Minister. The auditor said licences were given to telecom operators in 2007-2008 at throwaway prices without a free and fair bidding process.
Named along with Raja in the scandal were the promoters and top executives of some of India’s best-known telecoms including the one owned by Anil Ambani’s conglomerate.
The CBI had alleged that a Rs. 200-crore bribe paid by a telecom operator to Raja was deposited in a TV channel in Chennai that is owned in part by Kanimozhi.
The 2G scam was among the major corruption scandals that came to light during the second term of Manmohan Singh’s coalition government.
This post was published on December 21, 2017 6:59 pm