Delhi High Court notice to A Raja, Kanimozhi on CBI, ED pleas in 2G case
By Express News Service | Published: 22nd March 2018 06:17 AM |
Last Updated: 22nd March 2018 07:00 AM | A+A A- |
Former Telecom Minister A Raja (File | PTI)
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response of former Telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others on the CBI’s plea challenging their acquittal by a special court in the 2G spectrum case.
The court asked them to file their responses before May 25, the next date of hearing. A bench headed by Justice S P Garg also issued notice on the plea of the Enforcement Directorate challenging their acquittal in the money laundering case arising out of the 2G scam case. On the ED’s plea, the court maintained the status quo with regard to the properties worth around `223 crore which the agency had attached in the money laundering case. ED filed the plea as it did not want the properties to be released from attachment following the acquittal in the case.
Both CBI and ED had approached the High Court against the special court’s order acquitting all the accused in the money laundering case arising out of the 2G scam. Last year, the special 2G court had acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and others in the CBI and ED cases and held that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the charges.
Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, the special court had acquitted 17 others, including DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka of STPL, Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, film producer Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Sharad Kumar, Director of Kalaignar TV in the ED case.
The ED, in its charge sheet, had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd (STPL) promoters to the DMK-run Kalaignar TV.
On the same day, the trial court had acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others, including 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, in the CBI’s 2G case.
