Nation shocked as SC aquits Former Telecom Min A Raja, DMK leader Kanimozhi and 15 others in #2GScam Case

New Delhi, December 21: Today in a shocking judgement the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court acquitted former Telecom Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader A. Raja in a case on alleged irregularities in the 2008 allocation of 2G telecom spectrum and licences—a scandal that contributed to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s electoral downfall in 2014. Other 16 accused including DMK leader Kanimozhi and three companies were also acquitted in the case. 

Special judge O.P. Saini reserved the verdict on 26 April after hearings ended in related cases involving political figures, bureaucrats and telecom executives. Saini has presided over the trial for six years.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has estimated a presumptive loss of Rs1.76 trillion because of flawed allocation of spectrum when A. Raja was Telecom Minister in the UPA government.

A special CBI court in Delhi was likely to pronounce its judgments today in separate cases filed by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were among the key accused in the scam. The trial in the 2G spectrum scam started six years ago after the court framed charges against 17 accused in the CBI's case for offences which entails punishment ranging from six months to life imprisonment. But today all the accused were acquitted in the case.