Delhi HC issues notice to A Raja, Kanimozhi and 17 others in 2G case

The Delhi High Court today issued notice to former Telecom Minister A Raja and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, along with seventeen others, in the case related to the infamous 2G spectrum scam that allegedly took place under the UPA regime..The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed an appeal in the High Court against the order of the Special CBI court at Patiala House, which acquitted all 19 accused including Raja, Kanimozhi, Shahid Balwa and Karim Morani..The Single Judge Bench of SP Garg, while issuing notice to the accused, also directed to maintain status quo regarding the property worth Rs. 223 crore, which was seized by the ED and later released, pursuant to the special court judgment..The matter will next be heard on May 25..As per the CBI’s charges, Raja, who was Telecom Minister during the UPA regime, caused huge losses to the state exchequer by undercharging telecom firms for frequency licences. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India had estimated the total loss to be Rs 1.76 trillion..In quite a surprising verdict, CBI judge OP Saini had held that given the lack of evidence mounted by the prosecution, he had no choice but to give a clean chit to the accused. In fact, in para 1811 of the judgment, the judge states that he had been waiting in vain for over six years to receive a shred of credible evidence.