2G spectrum scam case verdict LIVE UPDATES: A Raja and Kanimozhi not guilty, says court

2G spectrum case verdict: A Raja and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi arrive at the Patiala House court on Thursday. (Express Photo/Abhinav Saha)

Former telecom minister A Raja, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and 15 other accused have been acquitted in the 2G spectrum scam case on Thursday. The verdict was pronounced by the special CBI court in New Delhi. It was delivered on the cases lodged by CBI and Enforcement Directorate against A Raja, Kanimozhi and others.

The trial in 2G spectrum scam, which cost the-then UPA government heavily, began in 2011 after the court had framed charges against 17 accused in the CBI’s case. All the accused in these cases have denied the allegations levelled against them by the CBI and the ED.

In October 2011, the court had framed charges against them under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using as genuine fake documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribe.

In its chargesheet filed in April 2011 against Raja and others, CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in allocation of 122 licences for 2G spectrum which were scrapped by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012.

2G spectrum allocation case LIVE updates

10.50 am: Former Telecom minister A Raja and Kanimozhi acquitted in the 2G spectrum scam case.

10.40 am: Compared with how spectrum is allocated to companies after auctioning it today, under A Raja, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) sold licences to operate 2G services along with spectrum deemed necessary to deploy these services. Bundling the spectrum with the licences and selling this on a first-come-first-served basis resulted in the allocation of airwaves at a much lower price than the market would have dictated — Rs 1,76,000 crore — as estimated by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

10.30 am: Security has been tightened at the court complex ahead of the 2G spectrum scam case verdict.

10.20 am: Kalaignar TV’s Sharad Kumar is also present at the court. Dynamix Realty Ltd, a company of the DB Group, allegedly paid Rs 200 crore through banking channels as bribe to Kalaignar TV, where Kumar was MD and CEO, and DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi was a key stakeholder.

10.15 am: Till now, 154 witnesses have recorded their statements which include Anil Ambani, Tina Ambani, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and many more. The statements of the witnesses amass over 4,400 pages.

10.10 am: In case you are just joining us, the 2G spectrum 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 to the Exchequer. The licenses were scrapped by the Supreme Court in 2012.

10.oo am: Read the story on ieTamil here.

9.55 am: The cancellation of telecom licences by the Supreme Court in 2012 in the 2G case prompted the key stakeholders — the government and telecom operators — to revamp the way the telecom sector functioned in India, especially how airwaves were offered to operators. Read more here.

9.50 am: Through the trial, Raja stated that every decision he took was in the public interest — he introduced new players, increased teledensity and brought down tariffs. There was no personal benefit to him, he claimed. Kanimozhi has been accused of being involved in “parking” of the alleged illegal gratification of Rs 200 crore in Kalaignar TV. However, Kanimozhi argued that she was a director of Kalaignar TV for only two weeks, from June 6 to June 20, 2007. Read more here.

9.40 am: Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, and A Raja arrive at Patiala House Court.

9.30 am: Former Minister A Raja leaves for Patiala House Court from his residence. The court had earlier passed an order that all the accused were to be present for the judgment.

9.15 am: The 2G spectrum allocation scam rocked the UPA II government. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s image was battered in the ensuing storm. In February 2011, Singh said that “coalition compulsions” had forced him to make compromises. Read more here.

9:00 am: In the first case filed by the CBI, Raja and Kanimozhi are facing trial along with 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.

The prosecution’s case in 2G spectrum scam: New cut-off dates, suspect intent and a Rs 200-crore bribe

8:55 am: One of the cases, for which verdict is likely to be delivered today, includes Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan, her husband I P Khaitan and Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikash Saraf as accused.

8:50 am: All accused — including Raja and Kanimozhi —  are likely to be present in the court today as per the directives. The punishments in the offences against the accused can range from six months in life imprisonment.

8:45 am: Special CBI judge O P Saini is slated to pronounce the judgments in separate cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in the scam.