2G: HC grants more time to Raja, Kanimozhi to file reply on CBI plea

The court was hearing the central probe agency's plea challenging a special court's order acquitting Raja, Kanimozhi and others in the 2G spectrum case.

Image courtesy: PTI/ file

New Delhi; The Delhi High Court on Friday granted more time to former Telecom Minister A. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the 2G spectrum case to file their replies to a CBI plea challenging their acquittal. Justice Najmi Waziri allowed the pleas of some accused seeking more time to file response on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) petition and listed the matter for October 9 for further hearing. The Unitech has also filed a reply which was taken on record by the court. The court was hearing the central probe agency's plea challenging a special court's order acquitting Raja, Kanimozhi and others in the 2G spectrum case. The special court on December 21, 2017 had acquitted all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case. While announcing the judgement, special judge O.P. Saini said the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the charges against 33 persons named in the case. Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, the special court had also 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, and P. Amirtham and Sharad Kumar of Kalaignar TV. 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 -- were also acquitted by the special court. The ED in its chargesheet had alleged that Rs 2 billion was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd (STPL) promoters to the DMK-run Kalaignar TV. The CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 309.84 billion to the exchequer in allocation of licences for the 2G spectrum. The allocation was scrapped by the top court on February 2, 2012. The special court, which was set up on March 14, 2011 for hearing 2G cases exclusively, had also acquitted Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia and six others in a separate case arising out of the 2G scam probe. The first case, prosecuted by the CBI, had 17 accused, while the second, pursued by the ED had 19 undertrials. The third case had eight accused, including the Essar promoters.