Picture Courtesy : The Indian Express
In a stunning verdict that has created a political storm between the UPA and the NDA , former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were acquitted by a special court in the 2G spectrum scam case. Fifteen other accused in the case and three companies were also acquitted. All acquitted in the case will have to furnish a bail bond of Rs. 5 lakhs each. This is done to ensure their presence in a higher appellate court if the verdict is challenged.
The Enforcement Directorate will appeal against the judgement of the special court that acquitted 19 people in the 2G spectrum allocation money laundering case, agency sources said, reports PTI .
Others acquitted in the case are former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) — Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair.
Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar and Bollywood producer Karim Morani are also acquitted in the case.
Besides them, three telecom firms — Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL), Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd — were also accused and acquitted in the case.
The CBI today said it would study the special court verdict on the 2G spectrum scam case and then decide the future course of action. “We are yet to receive the complete judgement. We will study it, take legal opinion and decide future course of action,” CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini pronounced the judgement in the 2G scam which had rocked the UPA government. “I have absolutely no hesitation in holding that prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of the charges against any of the accused”, Saini said.
“We are very happy that justice has prevailed. It is a big day for the DMK family. It is an answer to all the blames & the problems we faced”, Kanimozhi said reacting to the verdict.
Former Telecom Minister and DMK leader A Raja today hailed the verdict. “I will read the judgement and tell. You see everybody is happy,” Raja told reporters after coming out of the court room.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has commented that the justice has worked as it is supposed to work in the country.
