The special CBI court on Thursday acquitted former telecom minister A Raja, DMK leader Kanimozhi and 17 others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Special court judge OP Saini pronounced his verdict as 'not guilty' for all accused due to lack of evidence. The case relates to alleged below-market-price sale of lucrative telecoms permits bundled with airwaves in 2008, which a federal auditor said may have cost the government as much as Rs 30,000 crore in lost revenue. The verdict was announced on Thursday morning, nearly seven years after the first arrest was made by the CBI in 2011. The court had directed the accused to remain present before it today for the verdict. The 2G scam was among the major corruption scandals that came to light during the second term of the UPA government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh.
Here are live updates of the crucial judgment:
13:20 IST Thursday, 21 December 2017: Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi reacting to the verdict said that the 'accused had suffered enough. “All the people of the industry who were accused have suffered enough, licences cancelled, they were also unable to travel abroad,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “Prosecution's main argument was on clause 8, it is a civil issue. It was never an issue of criminality, this is what court also held,” he added.
11:06 IST Thursday, 21 December 2017: Former Union Minister in the UPA government and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram says 'truth established.'
10:59 IST Thursday, 21 December 2017: Lawyer of Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa, Vinod Goenka Vijay Aggarwal said 'the CBI Court said that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of its charge. Thus all accused are acquitted.
