CBI charges the full 2G spectrum brigade

Nearly two years and ten months after the 2G spectrum “criminal conspiracy” was allegedly hatched and executed, a special CBI trial court framed the charges against former telecom minister A Raja, his party colleague and DMK MP Kanimozhi, senior former telecom ministry bureaucrats, and a host of telecom bigwigs who have been in jail for months. After all the 17 accused pleaded not guilty to the charges, special CBI judge OP Saini fixed November 11 as the date for commencement of the trial.

The court today passed an over 700-page order, along with additional annexures framing a charge of “criminal breach of trust” against Raja, Kanimozhi and senior telecom ministry officials that could attract the maximum punishment of a life sentence if they are convicted. The others who were also accused were charged under various sections of the law ranging from “The Prevention of Corruption Act” to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy which could, in turn, attract five to seven years imprisonment.

Besides section 409, Raja has been charged with forgery, criminal conspiracy, and various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. However, with the charges framed, the accused could now get bail and step out of Tihar jail. The Supreme Court had virtually embargoed all the courts from entertaining their bail pleas before the framing of charges.

While framing charges against Kanimozhi, the court said she had been “in regular touch” with Raja to serve the cause of the party-run Kalaignar TV, of which she was a director and 20% stakeholder. The court said Kanimozhi, along with Raja, was “pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting registration of the company from the ministry of information and broadcasting but also for getting it in the Tata Sky bouquet”.

Turning down Raja’s plea that had he not changed the telecom policy, telecom revolution wouldn’t have entered India, the court said, “Affordability of mobile phones does not mean that public servants would start subverting the law in the process and filling up their own pockets by taking bribes. Shrinkage or flight of investment is no defence in criminal law.”

Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, identical charges were also framed against Raja’s former aide RK Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura. “Section 409 is imposed on Raja and two of his secretaries,” Judge OP Saini told a packed courtroom in the presence of all the 14 arrested individuals, who included top politicians, bureaucrats and corporate honchos. The court said there was prima facie evidence that Raja, Behura and others conspired to allocate “valuable spectrum”, entrusted to them in the capacity of being public servants, to Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd in violation of law to cause wrongful gain to the companies.   

Also charged were Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group’s top executives, Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa, their colleague Rajeev Agarwal, Unitech Ltd’s managing director Sanjay Chandra and DB Realty’s Vinod Goenka. The judge also said there was prima facie evidence for framing charges against Kalaignar TV’s MD Sharad Kumar, Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani, and three telecom firms, Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd. The three companies can be slapped with a steep fine if the charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery and cheating are proved. The CBI filed its first charge-sheet seven months ago, in which it called Raja the mastermind behind the scam. He has been in jail since his arrest on February 2.