Six years on, Delhi High Court accepts CBI’s appeal against A Raja and others’ acquittal in 2G spectrum case
Last Updated on March 22, 2024 by News Desk
On Friday, the Delhi High Court accepted the appeal submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the exoneration of A Raja, K Kanimozhi, and 15 other prominent figures, including politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats, in the 2G spectrum allocation cases.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma granted CBI’s “leave to appeal” against acquitting 17 accused in the 2G case. “Leave to appeal” is formal permission to challenge a court’s decision before a higher court.
It was added by him that arguable points were made by the CBI whereby the grant of leave was converted to appeal.
The order was reserved on 14th March , 2024, and the same has been done 6 years and 125 listings later.
The matter was earlier heard by a bench of 7 judges before coming to Justice Sharma.
In December 2017, a Special CBI Court acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi, and 15 others accused of causing losses to the state exchequer by undercharging telecom firms for frequency licenses. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India estimated the total loss to be ₹1.76 trillion.
The accused in the case include Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s private secretary RK Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech MD D Sanjay Chandra, and three top executives of Reliance Group – Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair.
In 2012, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 telecom licenses and spectrum allocated to 9 companies due to a faulty allocation process. In March 2018, the CBI challenged the acquittal of all accused in the High Court. The agency argued that the trial court judgment has inconsistencies and the High Court should hear the appeal.
Written By:- Shianjany Pradhan (@SHIANJANYPRADHAN)
