2G scam verdict: Congress seeks apology from BJP, Vinod Rai; FM Jaitley says 'Don't consider this as character certificate'

The verdict has come as a major relief for A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and several others in the much-anticipated 2G spectrum allocation scam cases

New Delhi: Patiala House court decided the fate of former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and several others in the much-anticipated 2G spectrum allocation scam cases on Thursday, and acquitted all of them in the case. Special CBI judge O P Saini  pronounced the judgements in separate cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in the infamous 2G scam which rocked the UPA government. LIVE UPDATES:

• "Licenses weren't given via auctioning. Few people were informed in advance" says FM Jaitley
• "Congress shouldn't consider this verdict as a character certificate" says FM Jaitley
• Verdict speaks for itself: Former PM Manmohan Singh

• A Raja, Kanimozhi and all other accused convicts acquitted by court
• CBI to challenge Patiala House court verdict in High Court
• The court says "Prosecution has miserably failed to prove the charges"
• "Thank you everyone. It was a big conspiracy" says Kanimozhi after the court verdict.
• "It is a big day for all of us" says Kanimozhi
• 
• "My theory of zero loss was correct. BJP must apologise" says Kapil Sibal
• "Vinod Rai must apologise" says Congress leader Manish Tewari
• Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram says "The allegations of major scam which were falsely being brought up were false and the same has been proved today"
• A Raja and Kanimozhi reach court
• The lawyers reach the court
• "Have presented all the necessary proofs. We are confident of the victory" says Lawyer

• Judgement on the 2G scam case shortly

The court, which is exclusively dealing with the cases arising out of the 2G spectrum scam, has directed all accused, including Raja, Kanimozhi and others to remain present before it tomorrow for the verdict. The trial in 2G spectrum scam started six years ago in 2011 after the court had framed charges against 17 accused in the CBI's case for the offences which entails punishment ranging from six months in life imprisonment. One of the cases in which judgement delivered on Thursday involves Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan, her husband I P Khaitan and Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikash Saraf as accused. In the first case filed by the CBI, Raja and Kanimozhi are facing trial along with 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. Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar and Bollywood producer Karim Morani are also accused in it. Besides them, three telecom firms - Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL), Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd -- are also accused in the case. All the accused facing trial in these cases have denied the allegations leveled against them by the CBI and the ED. The court had in October 2011 framed charges against them under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using as genuine fake documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribe. In its charge sheet filed in April 2011 against Raja and others, CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in allocation of 122 licences for 2G spectrum which were scrapped by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012. In the case involving promoters of Essar Group, Loop Telecom and Saraf, three companies - Loop Telecom Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding Ltd (ETHL) – were also named by the CBI in its charge sheet. While the court had charged them with the offence under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) read with section 420 (cheating) of IPC, substantial charge of cheating was made out against Saraf. The CBI had named them in its charge sheet on December 12, 2011, alleging they had cheated the Department of Telecommunication by using Loop Telecom as a "front" to secure 2G licences in 2008. Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a charge sheet against Raja, Kanimozhi and others for alleged offence of money laundering. The ED had listed 19 accused in its charge sheet in April 2014, including Raja, Kanimozhi, Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Rajiv Aggarwal, Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Sharad Kumar in connection with the case. In its charge sheet, the ED had also named DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal as an accused in the case in which it had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by STPL promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV. In its final report, the ED had named 10 individuals and nine companies as accused and listed them in the charge sheet for the offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Besides Kalaignar TV, the other companies accused in the case are STPL (now Etisalat DB Telecom (P) Ltd), Kusegaon Realty (P) Ltd, Cineyug Media & Entertainment (P) Ltd, Dynamix Realty, Eversmile Construction Company (P) Ltd, Conwood Construction & Developers (P) Ltd, DB Realty Ltd and Mystical Construction (P) Ltd (earlier known as Nihar Constructions (P) Ltd).