The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has pressed the Delhi High Court to schedule multiple dates for hearing its appeal against the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, and 15 others in the infamous 2G spectrum allocation case. This move came during a session on Friday, where CBI counsel Sanjay Jain highlighted the case’s readiness for a substantive review.
Justice Vikas Mahajan, presiding over the matter, has set March 18 as the date to further deliberate on the hearing schedule. This development follows the 2017 decision by a special CBI court that acquitted all individuals involved, including high-profile politicians and corporate executives, citing insufficient evidence to prove the alleged scam that purportedly cost the exchequer Rs 30,984 crore.
The allegations centered around the controversial allocation of 2G spectrum licenses in 2008, which were later annulled by the Supreme Court in 2012 due to procedural irregularities. The CBI’s appeal, filed in March 2018, contests the special court’s verdict, arguing that there are significant contradictions in the judgment that warrant a deeper examination.
The defendants, who were initially tried under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for offenses including criminal conspiracy, cheating, and bribery, include notable figures such as former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura and Raja’s former private secretary R K Chandolia. Corporate leaders like Unitech Limited managing director Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group were also acquitted.
Additional acquitted parties in the extensive case list include Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Private Limited, as well as entities like Swan Telecom (Private) Limited, Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Limited, Reliance Telecom Limited, and media personalities like film producer Karim Morani and Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar.
