A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted all accused, including former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
The CBI had chargesheeted Mr. Raja, Ms. Kanimozhi, the then Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura, Mr. Raja's former private secretary R.K. Chandolia, Unitech Wireless Managing Director Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom Director and DB Realty MD Vinod Goenka, and Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's (R-ADAG) Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd. Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Bollywood producer Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar.
The accused also include Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB), Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd and Reliance Telecom Ltd.
Also read: 2G case: A chronology of events
Here are the reactions from prominent leaders:
''I have been waiting these last 6 years for this day"
Ms Kanimozhi told The Hindu that Congress president Rahul Gandhi congratulated her on her acquittal. “It is a big day for all of us,” Ms. Kanimozhi quoted him as telling her.
"I have always believed that I would see the light at the end of tunnel,'' said Ms Kanimozhi. ''I have been waiting these last six years for this day," she told mediapersons in New Delhi.
"I was made an accused just because I was a director in a company and for only 20 days, where I had not attended even a single Board meeting and where I had not signed a single document," she said. "This speaks of the depth to which the system stooped to ensure that I was dragged in so that the DMK is defeated in the elections which was hardly 5 months away. There is no evidence against me and justice has been delivered.”
Also read: Baseless, unjust accusations have been erased, says Kanimozhi
The judgement speaks for itself, says Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the “massive propaganda” against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on 2G spectrum was without any foundation.
"I don't want to boast anything. The court's judgment has to be respected. The court has pronounced unambiguously that the massive propaganda against the UPA was unfounded. The judgement speaks for itself," he said.
Injustice will be defeated, Karunanidhi
Karnunanidhi's written response.
In probably the first words from him since abstaining from public life due to health issues, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi wrote in Tamil after the verdict, Aneedhi veezhum. Aram vellum (injustice will be defeated. Justice will prevail).
Congress treating verdict as badge of honour: Arun Jaitley
Refraining to comments on the verdict, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a dig at the Congress, reminding his rival party that the UPA's policy on awarding spectrum was already rapped by the Supreme Court.
"This was a corrupt and dishonest policy, which has already been upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012.Congress leaders are treating this judgment (2G Verdict) as some kind of a badge of honour and a certification that it was an honest policy," said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Telecom sector is in dire straits today, thanks to Vinod Rai: Kapil Sibal
"It's most unfortunate that an atmosphere of suspicion was created and Opposition gets on the bandwagon that everything the UPA did was wrong. The telecom sector is in dire straits today, thanks to Vinod Rai and the leaders of the (then) Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Our stand has been vindicated," said Congress leader Kapil Sibal
Former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said: "A major scam involving the highest levels in the government was never true, not correct and that has been established today."
Former junior telecom minister Milind Deora siad: "The CAG report allowed BJP to mislead the nation & play the role of a highly irresponsible opposition. This won them an election, but hurt India’s competitiveness & straddled banks with ₹4 lakh crore of debt resulting from license cancellations & auctions."
Historic verdict: Stalin
Terming it a historic verdict, DMK working president and half brother of Kanimozhi, M.K. Stalin said, "This was a politically motivated case. It was a well planned one and with false figures, they built up arguments. Now, we are extremely delighted that everyone has been acquitted. I have a request for the media. When this case started, you blew it up so much to make sure everyone knew about it, now please make sure this judgement too gets as much visibility."
Politically motivated case: Duraimurugan
DMK's senior leader Duraimurugan said, "This case was a politically motivated one. They want to spoil the image of DMK... After a long battle, we have won the case."
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva: “We are very relieved and happy today. We knew we were innocent but we had an obligation to appear in the court. We are glad that we have been acquitted through the legal process and our political journey will go on from here.”
Govt should appeal against the verdict: Subramanian Swamy
Reacting to the development BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted: “Govt. must prove its bonafides by filing an immediate appeal in High Court.”
Dr. Swamy, the then Janata Party president, was among many who knocked court doors seeking probe into the alleged multi-crore scam in allocating 2G spectrum. In addition to Mr. Raja, he wanted the court to probe the role of the then Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram in the case. However, his plea was quashed by the Supreme Court.
Vinod Rai must apologize: Manish Tewari
Congress leader Manish Tewari, reacting to the 2G verdict said the former CAG Vinod Rai must apologize for an "imbecile" report.
"Mr Rai, former C&G, must apologise to the nation for throwing presumptive sensational corrosive numbers into public discourse. He was author of imbecile 1.76 thousand crore loss theory that I had destroyed during my cross examination of Rai in the JPC. The court has affirmed JPC report," Mr. Tewari said.