Wikipedia

2G spectrum case

(Redirected from 2G scam)

The 2G spectrum case was a political controversy in which politicians and private officials of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government India were allegedly involved in [1] selling or allotting 122 2G spectrum licenses on conditions that provided an advantage to specific telecom operators. A. Raja, then Telecom Minister, was accused of selling 2G spectrum licenses at a very low cost which resulted in the loss of ₹1,760 billion (US$25 billion) in government revenue.[2] Raja was also accused of not following rules and regulations as well as not recognizing any advice from the Ministries of Finance and Law and Justice of India while allotting 2G spectrum licenses to telecom operators. Series of allegations were made on allotting 2G spectrum licenses including allegations from Central Bureau of Investigation after investigating the case alleging Raja for intentionally advancing the cut-off date (from 01/10/2007 to 25/09/2007)[3] to favour some specific firms (Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom), which were allegedly ineligible for applying for telecom licenses, in return for bribes.

On 21 December 2017, the special court in New Delhi after thorough examination of the case and hearing what the CBI had to say, acquitted all accused in the 2G spectrum case including prime-accused Raja and Kanimozhi.[4] The court ruled that this case was baseless. As per the judgement, "Some people created a scam by artfully arranging a few selected facts and exaggerating things beyond recognition to astronomical levels."[5][6]

On 19 and 20 March 2018, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI respectively filed appeals against this verdict in the Delhi High Court.[7] On 22 March 2024, Delhi High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma agreed that the trial court's judgement requires deeper examination and re-appreciation of entire evidence and admitted the CBI's appeal. The High Court noted that there were several contradictions in the trial court's judgement.[8]

Background

edit

India is divided into 22 telecommunications zones, with 281 zonal licenses.[9] In 2008, 122 new second-generation 2G Unified Access Service (UAS) licenses were granted to telecom companies on a first-come, first-served basis at the 2001 price. According to the CBI charge sheet, several laws were violated and bribes were paid to favour certain firms in granting 2G spectrum licenses. According to a CAG audit, licenses were granted to ineligible corporations, those with no experience in the telecom sector (such as Unitech and Swan Telecom)[10] and those who had concealed relevant information.[11] Although former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh advised Raja to allot 2G spectrum transparently and revise the license fee in a November 2007 letter, Raja rejected many of Singh's recommendations.[12] In another letter that month, the Ministry of Finance expressed procedural concerns to the DOT;[12] these were ignored, and the cut-off date was moved forward from 1 October to 25 September 2007.[12]

On 25 September 2007 the DOT announced on its website that applicants filing between 3:30 and 4:30 pm that day would be granted licenses.[12] Although the policy for awarding licences was first-come, first-served, which was introduced during Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, Raja changed the rules so it applied to compliance with conditions instead of the application itself.[13] On 10 January 2008, companies were given only a few hours to supply Letters of Intent and payments; some executives were allegedly tipped off by Raja.[14][15] Although the corporation was ineligible, Swan Telecom was granted a license[10] for ₹15.37 billion (US$180 million) and sold a 45-percent share to the UAE-based Etisalat for ₹42 billion (US$500 million).[10] Unitech Wireless (a subsidiary of the Unitech Group) obtained a license for ₹16.61 billion (US$200 million), selling a 60-percent share for ₹62 billion (US$740 million) to Norway-based Telenor.[10]

The following is a list of companies who received 2G licenses during Andimuthu Raja's term as telecom minister;[16][17] the licenses were later cancelled by the Supreme Court:[18][19]

Company Telecom regions # of licenses Remarks
Adonis Projects Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) 6 Adonis Projects, Nahan Properties, Aska Projects, Volga Properties, Azare Properties & Hudson Properties were acquired by Unitech. Since Unitech Infrastructure and Unitech Builders & Estates were subsidiaries of Unitech Group, in 2008 Unitech had 22 2G licenses. Later that year, Telenor bought a majority share in the telecom company from the Unitech Group and provided service as Uninor with 22 licences.
Nahan Properties Assam, Bihar, North East, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh (east), West Bengal 6
Aska Projects Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka 3
Volga Properties Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra 3
Azure Properties Kolkata 1
Hudson Properties Delhi 1
Unitech Builders & Estates Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) 1
Unitech Infrastructures Mumbai 1
Loop Telecom Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha(Orissa), Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh 21
Datacom Solutions Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Mumbai 21 Operates as Videocon Telecom
Shyam Telelink Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, North East 17 Shyam Telelink & Shyani Telelink have a combined 21 licenses. In late 2008 Russia-based Sistema bought a majority share in the company, which now operates as MTS India.
Shyani Telelink Mumbai, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh 4
Swan Telecom Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai 13 Swan was a subsidiary of Reliance Telecom established to circumvent the one-company-one-license rule. In 2008, Swan merged with Allianz Infratech; late in the year Abu Dhabi's Etisalat bought about 45 percent of the company, renaming it Etisalat DB Telecom.
Allianz Infratech Bihar, Madhya Pradesh 2
Idea Cellular Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, North East, Kolkata, West Bengal, Odisha(Orissa), Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) 9 Since Idea Cellular bought Spice Communications in 2008 for ₹27 billion (US$320 million),[20] of the 122 spectrum licenses sold in 2008 Idea owns 13. Seven are in use by the company, and the remainder are overlapping licenses.[21]
Spice Communications Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra 4
S Tel Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha(Orissa), North East, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh 6 In January 2009, Bahrain Telecommunications agreed to buy 49 percent of S Tel for $225 million. Chinnakannan Sivasankaran owns the remaining share.[22][23] In May 2009, Sahara Group bought an 11.7-percent share in S Tel.[24]
Tata Teleservices Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, North East 3 In late 2008 Tata sold a 26-percent share to the Japanese NTT DoCoMo for about ₹130.7 billion (US$1.6 billion), or an enterprise value of ₹502.69 billion (US$6.0 billion).[25]

Accused parties

edit

The selling of the licenses drew attention to three groups: politicians and bureaucrats, who had the authority to sell licenses; corporations buying the licenses, and professionals who mediated between the politicians and corporations.

Politicians

edit

The following charges were filed by the CBI and the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation in the Special CBI Court.[26][27][28][29]

A. Raja

edit
  • Political career: Four-time DMK member of Parliament (currently member of Lok Sabha from Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu), former Union Minister of State for Rural Development (1999) and Health and Family Welfare (2003), former Union Cabinet Minister for Environment and Forests (2004) and Communication and Information Technology (2007 and 2009)[30][31][32][33]
  • Allegation: A joint investigative report by the CBI and the Income Tax Department alleged that Raja may have received a ₹30 billion (US$360 million) bribe for moving the cut-off date for spectrum applications forward.[34][35] The changed deadline eliminated many applications, enabling Raja to favour a few applicants.[34][35] The agencies also alleged that he used accounts in his wife's name in Mauritius and Seychelles banks for the kickbacks.[36] A CBI charge sheet alleged that Raja conspired with the accused and arbitrarily refined the first-come, first-served policy to ensure that Swan and Unitech received licences.[37] Instead of auctioning 2G spectrum, he sold it at the 2001 rate.[37]
  • Charges: Criminal breach of trust by a public servant (section 409), criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratification.[26][38][39]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 2 February 2011.[40] Applied for bail on 9 May 2012,[41][42] which was granted on 15 May.[43][44][45]

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi

edit
  • Political career: Youngest Daughter of five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi. DMK member of Parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha till 2019, currently member of Lok Sabha from Thoothukudi.[46][47]
  • Allegations: According to the CBI charge sheet, Kanimozhi owns 20 percent of family-owned Kalaignar TV; her stepmother, Dayalu Ammal, owns 60 percent of the channel.[48] The CBI alleges that Kanimozhi was the "active brain" behind the channel[48] and conspired with Raja to coerce DB Realty cofounder Shahid Balwa to funnel ₹2 billion (US$24 million) to Kalaignar TV.[49] Kanimozhi was in regular contact with Raja about the launch of Kalaignar TV.[49] Raja advanced the channel's cause, facilitating its registration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and adding it to DTH operator TATA Sky's lineup. Kanimozhi was charged with tax evasion by the Income Tax Department in Chennai.[49]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant and criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471), and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[26][38]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 May 2011.[50][51] Granted bail on 28 November 2011, after 188 days in custody.[52][53] On 21 December 2017, she has been acquitted by a Special CBI Court.[54]

Bureaucrats

edit

A number of bureaucrats were named in the CBI charge sheet filed in its Special Court.[26][27][28][29]

Siddharth Behura

edit
  • Position: Telecom Secretary when the licenses were granted.[26][55]
  • Allegations: According to the CBI charge sheet, Behura conspired with Raja and several others. When the application deadline time was declared, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm Behura closed counters to block other telecom companies.[10]
  • Charges: Criminal breach of trust by a public servant (Section 409), criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratuities.[26][56]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 2 February 2011[40] and granted bail on 9 May 2012,[57][58] and finally acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a Special CBI Court for lack of convincing evidence.[54] On 10 July 2012 joint parliamentary committee deposition, Behura blamed Raja for most of the decisions related to 2G spectrum auctions.[59]

RK Chandolia

edit
  • Position: Raja's private secretary when the licenses were granted.[26][60]
  • Allegations: According to the CBI charge sheet Chandolia, like Behura, conspired with Raja and several others; when the application deadline time was declared from 3:30 to 4:30 pm, Chandolia joined Behura in shutting counters to physically block other telecom companies.[10]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 2 February 2011.[40] Although he was granted bail by the special CBI court on 1 December 2011, the following day the High Court took suo motu notice of newspaper reports of the bail and stayed it.[61] Chandolia appealed to the Supreme Court, and on 9 May 2012 the court upheld the bail grant.[62] He was acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a Special CBI Court for lack of substantial evidence.[54]

Executives

edit

A number of executives were accused in the CBI charge sheet.[26][27][28][29]

Sanjay Chandra

edit
  • Position: Former Unitech Wireless managing director[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Allegations: Former CBI prosecutor AK Singh was implicated in a taped conversation sharing legal strategy and privileged information with Chandra.[63][64]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 April 2011[65][66] and granted bail on 24 November,[67] As of 21 December 2017 he has been acquitted by a special CBI Court.[54]

Umashankar

edit
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Allegations: Former CBI prosecutor AK Singh was implicated in a taped conversation sharing legal strategy and privileged information with Umashankar.[63][64]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 April 2008[65][66] and granted bail same day. As of 21 December 2017 he has been acquitted by a special CBI Court.[54]

Gautam Doshi

edit
  • Position: Managing director, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 April 2011[65] and granted bail on 24 November 2011.[67] As of 21 December 2017 he has been acquitted by a special CBI Court.[54]

Hari Nair

edit
  • Position: Senior vice-president, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 April 2011[65] and granted bail on 24 November 2011.[67] As of 21 December 2017 he has been acquitted by a special CBI Court.[54]

Surendra Pipara

edit
  • Position: Senior vice-president, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 April 2011[65] and granted bail on 24 November 2011.[67] As of 21 December 2017 he has been acquitted by a special CBI Court.[54]

Vinod Goenka

edit
  • Position: Managing director, DB Realty and Swan Telecom[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B), cheating (Section 420), forgery (Sections 468 and 471) and fabrication of evidence (Section 193); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 April 2011[65] and granted bail on 24 November 2011.[67] As of 21 December 2017 he has been acquitted by a special CBI Court.[54]

Shahid Balwa

edit
  • Position: Corporate promoter, DB Realty and Swan Telecom[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), forgery (Sections 468 and 471) and fabrication of evidence (Section 193); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 8 February 2011[68] and granted bail on 29 November 2011,[69] acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54]

Asif Balwa

edit
  • Position: Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), forgery (Sections 468 and 471) and fabrication of evidence (Section 193); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 29 March 2011[70] and granted bail on 28 November 2011[71] Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54]

Rajiv Agarwal

edit
  • Position: Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), forgery (Sections 468 and 471) and fabrication of evidence (Section 193); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 29 March 2011[70] and granted bail on 28 November 2011.[71] Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54]

Sharath Kumar

edit
  • Position: Managing director, Kalaignar TV[26]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), forgery (Sections 468 and 471) and fabrication of evidence (Section 193); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 20 May 2011[72] and granted bail on 28 November 2011.[73] Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54]

Ravi Ruia

edit
  • Position: Vice-chair, Essar Group[74][75]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B) and cheating (Section 420)[74][75]
  • Status: Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54][76]

Anshuman Ruia

edit
  • Position: Director, Essar Group[74][75]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B) and cheating (Section 420).[74][75]
  • Status: Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54][76]

Vikas Saraf

edit

Ishwari Prasad Khaitan

edit
  • Position: Corporate promoter, Loop Telecom[74][75]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy under (Section 120 B) and cheating (Section 420)[74][75]
  • Status: Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54][76]

Kiran Khaitan

edit
  • Position: Corporate promoter, Loop Telecom[74][75]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B) and cheating (Section 420)[74][75]
  • Status: Acquitted on 21 December 2017 by a special CBI Court.[54][76]

Karim Morani

edit
  • Position: Corporate promoter and director, Cineyug Films[26]
  • Allegations: According to the Income Tax Department charge sheet, Morani-owned Cineyug Films was a part of the route used by Shahid Balwa to funnel[77] ₹2 billion (US$24 million) illegally to Kalaignar TV.[77] DB Realty corporate promoters Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka transferred ₹2,092.5 million (US$25 million) to Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables, where Balwa's younger brother Asif was a director.[77][78] Kusegaon then transferred ₹2 billion (US$24 million) to Cineyug Films, and Morani transferred it to Kalaignar TV.[77]
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), forgery (Sections 468 and 471) and fabrication of evidence (Section 193); booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[26]
  • Status: Arrested by the CBI on 30 May 2011[79] and granted bail on 28 November 2011.[73] Promptly acquitted on 29 December 2017 by a "special CBI Court".[54]

Corporations

edit

Several companies were named in the CBI charge sheet.[26][27][28][29]

Unitech Wireless

edit
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420) and forgery (Sections 468 and 471)[26]
  • Status: The company was acquitted on 21 December 2017 of any wrongdoing by Special CBI Court.[54]

Reliance Telecom

edit
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B) and cheating (Section 420)[26]
  • Status: As of December 2017, acquitted in 2G spectrum case.[80]

Swan Telecom

edit
  • Charges: Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B) and cheating (Section 420)[26]
  • Status: The company was acquitted on 21 December 2017 of any wrongdoing by a Special CBI Court that was appointed for the purpose of acquitting the accused.[54]

Media role

edit
Main article: Radia tapes controversy

OPEN and Outlook reported that journalists Barkha Dutt (editor of NDTV) and Vir Sanghvi (editorial director of the Hindustan Times) knew that corporate lobbyist Nira Radia influenced Raja's appointment as telecom minister,[81] publicising Radia's phone conversations with Dutt[82] and Sanghvi[83] when Radia's phone was tapped by the Income Tax Department. According to critics, Dutt and Sanghvi knew about the link between the government and the media industry but delayed reporting the corruption.[84]

Chronology

edit

The Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed the first petition against the Union of India for irregularities in awarding 2G spectrum licenses. The petition alleged that the government lost $15.53 billion by issuing spectrum in 2008 based on 2001 prices, and by not following a competitive bidding process. This led to further petitions, and an investigation began in 2010.[85]

2007

edit
  • May: A Raja becomes Telecom Minister.[86]
  • August: Allotment of 2G spectrum and Universal Access Service (UAS) licences by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) begins.
  • 25 September: The Telecom Ministry issues a press release that its deadline for application is 1 October.
  • 1 October: DoT receives 575 applications for UAS licences from 46 companies.[87]
  • 2 November: The prime minister writes to Raja, directing him to ensure the allotment of 2G spectrum in a fair and transparent manner and to ensure that the licence fee was revised. Raja rejects many of the prime minister's recommendations.
  • 22 November: In a letter to the DoT, the Finance Ministry raises procedural concerns. Its demand for a review is rejected.

2008

edit
  • 10 January: The DoT decides to issue licences on first-come, first-served basis, advancing the cut-off date from 1 October to 25 September and announcing on its website that those applying between 3.30 and 4.30 pm would be granted licences in accordance with policy.[88][89]
  • Total collection from sale of 122 licenses was about 92 billion.[citation needed]
  • Swan Telecom, Unitech and Tata Teleservices sell shares at much higher prices to Etisalat, Telenor and DoCoMo, respectively.[90][91][92]

2009

edit
  • 4 May: A telecom-watchdog NGO files a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on illegalities in spectrum allocation to Loop Telecom.
  • 19 May: Another complaint is filed with the CVC by Arun Agarwal, highlighting the low-cost spectrum grant to Swan Telecom. The CVC directs the CBI to investigate irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum.
  • 1 July: Responding to a petition from S-Tel, the Delhi High Court rules the advancement of the cut-off date illegal.[93]
  • 20 October: The CBI registers a case, filing a First Information Report against unknown officers of the DoT and unknown private persons and companies under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
  • 22 October: The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation raids DoT offices.[94][95][96]
  • 16 November: The CBI investigates a wiretapped conversation by corporate lobbyist Nira Radia to learn the involvement of middlemen in the grant of spectrum to telecom companies, seeking information from the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation about Radia and her company.

2010

edit
  • 13 March: The Supreme Court upholds the Delhi High Court ruling that the cutoff-date advancement was illegal.[97][98]
  • 31 March: According to the Comptroller and Auditor General, there were large-scale irregularities in spectrum allocation.
  • 2 April: CBI Deputy Inspector General of Investigations Vineet Agarwal and Indian Revenue Service Director General of Income Tax Investigations Milap Jain, who were investigating the case, are transferred; Jain becomes Director General of International Taxation.[99]
  • 6 May: Telephone conversation between Raja and Niira Radia, recorded by the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation, made public.[100] The Centre for Public Interest Litigation petitions the Delhi High Court for a special investigation of the case.
  • 25 May: Petition dismissed by the court.
  • August: Dismissal appealed to the Supreme Court.
  • 18 August: High Court refuses to order the prime minister to rule on a request by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to prosecute Raja.
  • 13 September: The Supreme Court asks the government and Raja to reply within 10 days to three petitions filed by the CPIL and others alleging a ₹70,000 crore (US$8.4 billion) scam in granting telecom licences in 2008.
  • 24 September: Swamy petitions the Supreme Court to order the PM to prosecute Raja.
  • 27 September: The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation informs the Supreme Court of a probe of firms suspected to have violated the Foreign Exchange Management Act, saying it cannot confirm or deny Raja's involvement.
  • 8 October: The Supreme Court asks the government to respond to the Comptroller and Auditor General report about the case.[101]
  • 21 October: Draft reports from the CAG are presented to the Supreme Court.
  • 29 October: The Supreme Court criticises the CBI for its slowness in investigating the case.[102][103]
  • 10 November: The CAG submits a report on 2G spectrum to the government, stating a loss of ₹176,000 crore (US$21 billion) to the exchequer.
  • 11 November: The DoT files a Supreme Court affidavit that the CAG lacked the authority to question the 2008 policy decision.
  • 14 November: Raja resigns as telecom minister.[104][105]
  • 15 November: Kapil Sibal placed in charge of Telecom Ministry.[106][107]
  • 20 November: Affidavit on behalf of the PM filed in Supreme Court rejecting the charge of inaction on Swamy's complaint.[108][109][110]
  • 22 November: The CBI and the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation tell the SC they will file a charge sheet within three months, and the CBI says it will investigate the role of Niira Radia.
  • 24 November: The SC reserves verdict on Swamy's request to the PM to prosecute Raja.
  • 25 November: The SC criticises the CBI for not questioning Raja.
  • 29 November: The CBI files a status report on the probe.
  • 30 November: The SC questions the Central Vigilance Commission's P. J. Thomas' fitness to supervise the CBI probe, since he was Telecom Secretary at that time.[111]
  • 1 December: The SC orders the original tapes of conversations by Radia. Raja questions the CAG findings.
  • 2 December: The government supplies Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation tapes to the SC, which criticises Raja for ignoring the PM's advice to delay the spectrum allocation.
  • 8 December: SC favours including 2001 (when first-come, first-served was the norm for spectrum allocation) in the probe period and asks the government to consider a special court. The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation reports a money trail covering 10 countries, including Mauritius.
  • 14 December: PIL filed in SC, seeking the cancellation of new telecom licences and 2G spectrum allocated under Raja.
  • 15 December: Swamy petitions a Delhi court for his inclusion as a public prosecutor, saying Raja favoured "ineligible" companies Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless in allocating spectrum.
  • 16 December: The SC decides to monitor the CBI inquiry.[112][113][114]

2011

edit
  • 4 January: Swamy petitions the SC for cancellation of the licenses.
  • 10 January: Supreme Court notifies the government of Swamy's petition, and issues notices to 11 companies which allegedly did not fulfill the roll-out obligations or were ineligible.
  • 30 January: The government's decision to regularise the licenses of companies which failed to meet the deadline is challenged in the Supreme Court.
  • 2 February: Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura and Raja's former personal secretary, R. K. Chandolia, are arrested.
  • 8 February: Raja is remanded to two more days of CBI custody, and Behura and Chandolia are placed in judicial custody. Swan Telecom corporate promoter Shahid Usman Balwa is arrested.
  • 10 February: The Supreme Court asks the CBI to investigate corporations which were beneficiaries of the spectrum allocation. Raja and Balwa are remanded to CBI custody for four more days by a special CBI court.
  • 14 February: Raja's custody is extended by three days, and Balwa's for four.
  • 17 February: Raja is sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
  • 18 February: The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation questions Kani Mozhi at its Chennai headquarters.
  • 25 February: The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation tells a Delhi court that Balwa facilitated transactions to Kalaignar TV.
  • 28 February: Raja requests video-conferenced judicial proceedings, saying that he is threatened by other inmates.
  • 1 March: The CBI tells the SC that 63 people are under investigation. Raja appears in CBI court via video-conference.
  • 11 March: The Delhi High Court establishes a special court. Balwa is also allowed to appear via video-conference.
  • 17 March: The SC reserves judgment on licence cancellations, rejecting corporate claims that estoppel cannot be applied to protect illegality.[115][116]
  • 29 March: The SC allows the CBI to file its chargesheet on 2 April instead of 31 March. Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal are arrested.
  • 2 April: The CBI files its first chargesheet.[117][118][119]
  • 25 April: The CBI files a second chargesheet, and Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar and Karim Morani are summoned.[120][121][122]
  • 6 May: Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar appear, requesting bail, and Morani requests an appearance exemption on medical grounds.[123][124][125] The SC issues a contempt of court notice to Sahara India Pariwar managing director Subrata Roy and two others for alleged interference in the Directorate General of Economic Enforcement investigation.[126][127]
  • 7 May: The special CBI court reserves judgment on Kanimozhi and Kumar's bail requests.
  • 14 May: The special CBI court postpones judgment on the bail pleas for 20 May.
  • 20 May: The special court refuses Kanimozhi and Kumar's bail requests, ordering their arrest to prevent witness-tampering.[128][129]
  • 8 June: Delhi HC judge Ajit Bharihoke again refuses bail Kanimozhi and Kumar's bail requests.[130][131]
  • 20 June: The SC refuses Kanimozhi's bail request.[132][133][134]
  • 25 July: Arguments begin, with Raja wanting to summon the prime minister and former finance minister P. Chidambaram as witnesses.
  • 26 August: The special CBI court allows Subramanian Swamy to argue his own case, primarily to address possible loopholes in its investigation.[135][136]
  • 30 August: The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation freezes accounts and attaches properties worth ₹223 crore (US$27 million) belonging to five companies (primarily related to DB Realty under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)).[137][138]
  • 1 September: The Enforcement Directorate files a status report in Supreme Court of a Foreign Exchange Management Act violation of ₹ 100 billion.[139]
  • 15 September: Swamy requests that P. Chidambaram should be charged.[140]
  • 22 September: The CBI defends Chidambaram in the SC, blaming the DoT.
  • 26 September: The CBI requests criminal-breach-of-trust charges for Raja, Chandolia and Behura.[141][142]
  • 19 October: The CBI files a First Information Report against Maran and his brother in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[143][144][145]
  • 10 October: The SC reserves judgment on Swamy's request for a probe of Home Minister Chidambaram's role in the matter.[146][147] The CBI arrests former telecom minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran and his brother, Kalanithi Maran.[148]
  • 22 October: The special CBI court finds prima facie evidence to try the 17 accused (including Raja) on charges including criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating and forgery.[149][150]
  • 3 November: The special CBI court dismisses bail requests of all eight applicants, including Kanimozhi.[151]
  • 8 November: The special court orders CBI to provide Swamy with copies of files on equity sales by telecom companies in its investigation of P. Chidambaram's involvement.[152][153]
  • 9 November: The Delhi HC refuses bail to Karim Morani on health grounds, promising a ruling to the CBI on five other bail requests by 1 December.[154][155]
  • 11 November: Trial of the 17 accused begins in the Patiala House special CBI court.[156][157]
  • 14 November: The United Progressive Alliance government asks the SC to restrain Swamy from publicly accusing the UPA leadership, especially Home Minister P Chidambaram and UPA chair Sonia Gandhi.[158][159]
  • 22 November: The special court moves the trial to the Tihar jail, after a Delhi high-court order.[160][161]
  • 23 November: The SC grants bail to five corporate executives: Sanjay Chandra of Unitech Wireless, Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom and the Reliance Group's Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nayar.[162]
  • 28 November: The Delhi High Court grants bail to DMK MP Kanimozhi and four others: Karim Morani, Sharad Kumar, Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal, upholding the principle of parity under Section 144 of the Constitution of India in a SC order.[163][164]
  • 29 November: The special court grants bail to Shahid Balwa, citing the principle of parity; the SC and HC had granted bail to 10 other accused parties.[165][166]
  • 1 December: The special court grants bail to Raja's former private secretary, R. K. Chandolia, ordering him not to visit the DoT without prior court permission.[167][168]
  • 2 December: Claiming suo motu, the HC stays trial-court bail granted to R. K. Chandolia.[169]
  • 7 December: The SC stays the HC's suo motu order against Chandolia's bail request.[170][171]
  • 8 December: The special CBI court accepts Swamy's request to summon Chidambaram as a witness and question two witnesses: senior CBI and Finance Ministry officials.[172][173]
  • 12 December: The CBI files a third chargesheet, naming Essar Group corporate promoters Ravi Ruia, his son Anshuman Ruia and its director of strategy and planning, Vikas Saraf, and Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband, I P Khaitan. It also charges Loop Mobile India, its subsidiary Loop Telecom and Essar Tele Holding.[174][175]
  • 16 December: The HC rejects the bail request of Siddharth Behura: "He was the 'perpetrator' of the illegal designs of Raja and would not claim benefit of parity with 10 others released on bail".[176]

2012

edit
  • 2 February: The Supreme Court cancels the 122 licenses issued by Raja and imposes a ₹50 million ($1,018,122) fine on Unitech, Swan and Tata Teleservices and a ₹5 million fine on Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, S-Tel, Allianz Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services. The SC requested a trial-court ruling about whether Home Minister P Chidambaram should be charged.[177][178]
  • 4 February: The special court, under justice O.P Saini, dismisses Swamy's request to charge Chidambaram.[179]
  • 8 February: The Enforcement Directorate and the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation charge DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran with money laundering[180] and his brother, Kalanithi Maran, for allegedly receiving about ₹ 5.5 billion illegally in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[181]
  • 9 February: Essar Group and Loop Telecom appeal their special-court subpoenas to the Supreme Court.[182][183]
  • 15 February: The Supreme Court refuses an interim stay on the 22 February summonses of Essar Group, Loop Telecom and their officials by the special court.[184]
  • 22 February: The CBI files a complaint with the CVC about witness-tampering by the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation, allegedly at the behest of DMK Minister of State for Finance SS Palanimanickam. Swamy said he would notify the Supreme Court.[185]
  • 23 February: Swamy petitions the Supreme Court to overturn the trial-court dismissal of his request to charge Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.[186]
  • 2 March: The government of India files a review petition in Supreme Court of the court's 2 February order cancelling the 122 licenses,[187] questioning the court's authority to supersede the first-come, first-served policy but not challenging the validity of the cancellations.[188] Raja and Sistema (majority shareholder in MTS India, Uninor and other telecom companies) also file a SC review petition.[189]
  • 4 April: Except for the government of India's partial review petition, the Supreme Court dismisses all 10 review petitions.[190] Companies dismissed include Videocon Telecommunications, S Tel, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Tata Teleservices, Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu), Etisalat DB Telecom and Idea Cellular.[190]
  • 12 April: The government requests an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court on issues arising from its 2 February ruling.[191]
  • 9 May: The Supreme Court grants bail to Siddharth Behura;[192] and upheld RK Chandolia's bail.[193] Raja requests bail.[194]
  • 15 May: Bail granted to Raja after 15 months, on condition that he have court permission to visit Tamil Nadu.[43][44][195]
  • 6 June: The special court allows Raja to visit Tamil Nadu.[196]
  • 3 July: Briefing the joint parliamentary committee probing the case, the Enforcement Directorate said it has enough evidence to convict DMK chief Karunanidhi's wife and daughter, Kanimozhi.[197]
  • 31 July: Former DoT senior official A. K. Srivastava confirmed the CBI's allegation in his testimony, and Raja (as telecom minister) was the final authority on policy matters. In an earlier statement to CBI, he said that Raja had recorded the cut—off date of 1 October 2007 in a DoT file.[198]
  • 1 August: The Supreme Court, in its advisory opinion on the 2G judgment, says that the implementation of the first-come, first-served policy was flawed. According to the Chief Justice, "The moment you change the criterion and distort the policy, it ceases to be FCFS policy. If you insist on making payment at the last minute after changing the cut-off date, then it is not FCFS, it is an out-of-turn policy."[199]
  • 3 August: In accordance with a Supreme Court directive, the government of India revises the spectrum value to ₹140 billion (US$1.7 billion);[200] this discredits the zero-loss theory and illustrates the ₹1,760 billion (US$21 billion) revenue loss calculated by the CAG.[201]
  • 9 August: The government again requests an extension from the Supreme Court (this time to 12 November) of the deadline to begin auctioning spectrum licences. After cancelling 122 licences in February, the court had given it four months to re-auction them (which had been extended to 31 August).[202]
  • 11 November: After one year of trial, 77 of 154 witnesses have been deposed.[203]

2013

edit
  • 20 April: Communist Party of India senior MP Gurudas Dasgupta accuses Manmohan Singh of "dereliction of duty", alleging that the PM was aware of irregularities in the allocation of telecom licences. According to Dasgupta, in a November 2007 letter Kamal Nath advised the Prime Minister to establish a group of ministers to allocate spectrum. He also referred to a note from the Cabinet Secretary recommending that the assessed value of spectrum licences be increased.[204][205]
  • 23 April: In a 112-page written statement to the joint parliamentary committee, Raja said that he met with P. Chidambaram and Prime Minister Singh several times from November 2007 to July 2008 to inform them of all 2G-related decisions and Singh agreed with him.[206]

2017

edit
  • 21 December: A special CBI court acquits everyone accused in the 2G spectrum case stating that the prosecution has failed to prove any charge against any of the accused, made in its well choreographed charge sheet.[54][207]

2018

edit

2019

edit
  • Feb 2019: Justice Najmi Waziri ordered the defendants to plant 3,000 trees each for seeking more time to file their responses on the appeal challenging their acquittal in the case.[208]

2020

edit
  • 5 October 2020: The Delhi High Court begins day-to-day hearings on the appeals, which later gets postponed to 14 January 2021.[209]
  • 23 November 2020: Justice Brijesh Sethi of Delhi High Court passed an order to release the appeals before him as "part-heard" to another judge as he was due to retire on 30 November 2020. The judge mentioned with heavy heart that his limited time was consumed in hearing and disposal of miscellaneous applications and petitions which were filed one after another on behalf of the respondents and hence he could not hear and decide the CBI and EDs appeals.[210] All the petitions of the respondents (to the CBI and ED's petitions) were dismissed.[211]

2022

edit
  • 3 March 2022: Supreme Court's three-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath rejects Loop Telecom's petition seeking refund of Rs 1,454.94 Crore paid as entry fee for 2G spectrum licences that were quashed on 2 February 2012 by the Supreme Court. Loop Telecom had sought refund of entry fee as its promoters had been acquitted by the trial court judgement on 21 December 2017. The Supreme Court rejected this argument and mentioned that, “The process leading up to the award of the UASLs (Unified Access Service Licences) and the allocation of the 2G spectrum was found to be arbitrary and constitutionally infirm” and “the need for an open and transparent bidding process for the allocation of natural resources was substituted by a process which was designed to confer unlawful benefits on a group of selected bidders by which the appellant benefitted”.[212]

2023

edit
  • 13 April 2023: The Bar & Bench notes that after 5 years, 95 listings and 7 judges in the Delhi High Court, the CBI and the ED's appeals are yet to cross the stage of leave to appeal.[213]

2024

edit
  • 22 March 2024: Delhi High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma agrees that the trial court's judgement requires deeper examination and re-appreciation of entire evidence and admits CBI's appeal. The court posts the case to 20 May for detailed arguments.[8]

Licence cancellations

edit

On 2 February 2012 the Supreme Court ruled on petitions filed by Subramanian Swamy and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) represented by Prashant Bhushan, challenging the 2008 allotment of 2G licenses,[214] cancelling all 122 spectrum licences granted during Raja's term as communications minister.[214] and described the allocation of 2G spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary".[215] The bench of GS Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly imposed a fine of ₹50 million (US$600,000) on Unitech Wireless, Swan Telecom and Tata Teleservices and a ₹5 million (US$60,000) fine on Loop Telecom, S Tel, Allianz Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services.[216] According to the ruling the current licences would remain in place for four months, after which time the government would reissue the licences.[217]

In its ruling the court said that former telecom minister A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer", listing seven steps he took to ensure this:[216][218]

  1. After becoming telecom minister, Raja directed that all applications for spectrum licences would be held pending Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommendations.[216][218]
  2. The 28 August 2007 TRAI recommendations were not presented to the full Telecom Commission, which would have included the finance secretary. Although the TRAI recommendations for allocation of 2G spectrum had serious financial implications (and finance ministry input was required under the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961), Telecom Commission non-permanent members were not notified of the meeting.[216][218]
  3. The DoT officers attending 10 October 2007 Telecom Commission meeting were coerced into approving the TRAI recommendations, or they would have "incurred" Raja's "wrath".[216][218]
  4. Since the Cabinet had approved the Group of Ministers recommendations, the DoT had to discuss the issue of spectrum pricing with the finance ministry. However, Raja did not consult the finance minister or other officials because the finance secretary had objected to allocating 2G spectrum at 2001 rates.[216][218]
  5. Raja dismissed the law minister's suggestion that the issue should be presented to the Group of Ministers. After receiving the PM's 2 November 2007 letter suggesting transparency in spectrum allocation of the spectrum, Raja said it would be unfair, discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious to auction spectrum to new applicants because it would not give them a level playing field. Although a 24 September DoT press release said that 1 October would be the application deadline, he changed the deadline to 25 September. Raja's arbitrary action, "though appear[ing] to be innocuous was actually intended to benefit some of the real estate firms who did not have any experience in dealing with telecom services and who had made applications only on 24 September 2007, i.e. one day before the cut-off date fixed by the C&IT minister on his own".[216][218]
  6. The 25 September cut-off date decided by Raja on 2 November was not made public until a 10 January 2008 press release in which he changed the first-come, first-served principle which had been in operation since 2003. "This enabled some of the applicants, who had access either to the minister or DoT officers, get bank drafts prepared towards performance guarantee of about Rs 16 billion".[216][218]
  7. "The manner in which the exercise for grant of LoIs to the applicants was conducted on 10 January 2008 leaves no room for doubt that everything was stage managed to favour those who were able to know in advance change in the implementation of the first-come-first-served policy." As a result, some companies who had submitted applications in 2004 or 2006 were pushed down the list in favour of those who had applied in August and September 2007.[216][218]

Companies affected by cancellations

edit

The table below lists the companies whose license were cancelled.[219][220]

Company Parent company # of licences cancelled
Uninor Joint venture of Unitech Group of India and Telenor of Norway Unitech Group 22
Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited, now MTS India Joint venture of the Shyam Group of India and Sistema of Russia 21
Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile) Khaitan Holding Group 21
Videocon Telecom Videocon 21
Etisalat-DB Joint venture of Swan Telecom of India and Etisalat of the UAE 15
Idea Cellular Aditya Birla Group (49.05%), Axiata (Malaysia, 15%) & Providence Equity Partners (U.S., 10.6%) 13
S Tel Joint venture of C Sivasankaran of India and Batelco of Bahrain. After the Supreme Court ruling, Batelco sold its 42.7% share to Sivasankaran-owned Sky City Foundation for 65.8 million Bahraini dinar ($174.5 million).[221][222][223] 6
Tata Teleservices Tata Group 3

Aftermath

edit
See also: Uninor controversies

In addition to Batelco's exit, on 21 February 2012 Telenor (the majority shareholder in Uninor) terminated its agreement with Unitech and sued it for "indemnity and compensation".[224][225][226] On 23 February 2012, Etisalat of Etasalat-DB Telecom sued DB Realty corporate promoters Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka for fraud and misrepresentation.[227][228][229]

After the special CBI court verdict on 21 December 2017 acquitting all the accused, the government faces compensation claims worth over Rs 170 billion from telcos like Videocon Telecom, Loop Telecom and STel who suffered loss of business after the Supreme Court scrapped 122 licences in 2012.[230]

Aircel-Maxis deal controversy

edit
See also: Dayanidhi Maran, T Ananda Krishnan, and Maxis Communications

On 6 June 2011 former Aircel chief C. Sivasankaran complained to the CBI about not receiving a telecom licence and being forced by telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran to sell Aircel to the Malaysia-based Maxis Communications group, owned by T. Ananda Krishnan. The licences were allegedly issued after the deal was made. Sivasankaran also alleged that brothers Dayanidhi and Kalanithi Maran received kickbacks in the form of investments by the Maxis group through the Astro network in Sun TV Network, owned by the Maran family.[143][144][145] In the wake of the allegations, Maran resigned on 7 July.[231]

On 10 October, the CBI registered a case and raided properties owned by the Marans. CBI sources said that although no evidence of coercion was found in the Aircel sale, they found substantial evidence that Maran had favoured the company's takeover by Maxis and deliberately delayed Sivasankar's files.[143][144][145] On 8 February 2012, the Enforcement Directorate registered a money-laundering case against the Maran brothers[180] for allegedly receiving illegal compensation of about ₹ 5.5 billion in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[181]

During the CBI probe Sivasankaran said that the Maran brothers had forced him to sell his 74% share in Aircel to Maxis by threatening his life, giving the CBI a list of over 10 witnesses. In September 2012, the CBI said it finished its Indian investigation and was awaiting the response to a letter rogatory sent to Malaysia and a questionnaire from T. Ananda Krishnan before filing a chargesheet.[232] On 29 August 2014, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran, Malaysian businessman T Ananda Krishnan, Malaysian national Augustus Ralph Marshall, six others and four firms — Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd, Maxis Communication Berhad, Astro All Asia Network PLC and South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd as accused in the case.[233] On 29 October 2014, special CBI judge OP Saini said that he found enough evidence to proceed with the prosecution and hence summoned former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and others as accused.[234] Based on the CBI chargesheet, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 1 April 2015, attached Maran brothers' properties worth Rs 7,420 million.[235]

Subramanian Swamy alleged that in 2006 a company controlled by Karti Chidambaram, the son of Minister of Finance P. Chidambaram, received a five-percent share of Aircel to get part of ₹ 40 billion paid by Maxis Communications for the 74-percent share of Aircel. According to Swamy, Chidambaram withheld Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance of the deal until his son received the five-percent share in Siva's company.[236] The issue was raised a number of times in Parliament by the opposition, which demanded Chidambaram's resignation.[237] Although he and the government denied the allegations,[238] The Pioneer and India Today reported the existence of documents showing that Chidambaram delayed approval of the foreign direct investment proposal by about seven months.[236][239][240]

In July 2018, the CBI named P Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram as accused in its supplementary charge sheet. The charge sheet named 16 other co-accused, including former finance secretaries Ashok Chawla, Ashok Jha, former Aircel CEO V Srinivasanand, Maxis owners T Ananda Krishnan and Ralph Marshal.[241]

Response to the allegations

edit

When Indian media began citing the CAG report identifying the loss at ₹ 1.76 trillion (short scale), the Indian opposition parties unanimously demanded the formation of a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the allegations.[242][243] Although the government rejected their demand,[243] when the winter session of Parliament began on 9 November 2010 the opposition again pressed for a JPC; again, their demand was rejected.[243] The demand for a JPC gained further momentum when the CAG report was tabled in Parliament on 16 November 2010.[244] The opposition blocked the proceedings, again pressing for a JPC;[245] the government again rejected their demand, creating an impasse.[246] Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar unsuccessfully attempted to resolve the impasse.[247] The winter session of Parliament concluded on 13 December 2010. Although 22 new bills were planned to be introduced, 23 pending bills passed and three bills withdrawn, Parliament functioned for only nine hours.[248] On 22 February 2011, after resisting opposition demands for over three months, the government announced that it would form a JPC.[249] The JPC criticised the CBI for its leniency to the PM, the Attorney General, Dayanidhi Maran and Chidambaram and its reluctance to investigate their roles on 24 July 2012.[250] After questioning former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi and the head of Maxis Communications, the CBI alleged that the Maran brothers accrued an illegal ₹ 5.50 billion by the sale of Sun Direct TV shares at highly "inflated prices".[251]

In early November 2010 Jayalalithaa accused state chief minister M Karunanidhi of protecting Raja from corruption charges, calling for Raja's resignation.[252] By mid-November, Raja resigned.[253] At that time, comptroller Vinod Rai issued show-cause notices to Unitech, S Tel, Loop Mobile, Datacom (Videocon) and Etisalat to respond to his assertion that the 85 licenses granted to these companies did not have the capital required at application or were otherwise illegal.[254] It was speculated that because these companies provide some consumer service, they would receive large fines but retain their licenses.[254]

In June 2011 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh criticised the CAG for commenting on policy issues, warning it "to limit the office to the role defined in the constitution."[255] After Singh's criticism the CAG conducted a "rigorous internal appraisal" and stood by its findings, citing additional events as corroboration. The CAG reiterated that there was "an undeniable loss to the exchequer", the calculation of which was based on three estimates: the 3G auctions and the Swan and Unitech transactions. It cited the Supreme Court ruling of 2 February 2012 that the actions of Raja and officers at the Department of Telecom were "wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the public interest, apart from being violative of the doctrine of equality. The material produced for the quote showed that the Minister for C&IT wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer." It said its estimate of loss of 1.76 trillion was justified, since the May 2012 TRAI collation of reserve prices for 2G spectrum was about the same as that in the November 2010 CAG report. TRAI had recommended a reserve price for 2G spectrum of ₹ 180 billion for a pan-India 5 MHz licence, higher than the 3G value of ₹ 167.50 billion for 5 MHz used by the CAG for arriving at a loss figure of ₹ 1,760 billion. It concluded that it was only examining the "implementation of policy", and policy-making was the government's prerogative.[256]

Joint parliamentary committee

edit

The JPC consisted of half United Progressive Alliance members and half opposition members. Twelve were from the Lok Sabha, and eight from the Rajya Sabha. Of the Lok Sabha MPs, eight were from the Congress Party and four from the BJP. The following JPC members investigated the 2G allegations:

Name Party
Kishore Chandra Deo Congress
Paban Singh Ghatowar Congress
Jai Prakash Agarwal Congress
Deepender Singh Hooda Congress
P. C. Chacko Congress
Manish Tewari Congress
Nirmal Khatri Congress
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Congress
T. R. Baalu Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Kalyan Banerjee Trinamool Congress
Jaswant Singh BJP
Yashwant Sinha BJP
Harin Pathak BJP
Gopinath Munde BJP
Sharad Yadav Janata Dal (United)
Dara Singh Chauhan Bahujan Samaj Party
Akhilesh Yadav Samajwadi Party
Gurudas Dasgupta Communist Party of India
Arjun Charan Sethi Biju Janata Dal
M. Thambi Durai All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Trial Court Verdict

edit

On 21 December 2017, a Special CBI Court acquitted all the persons accused in the case.[207][257][258][259]

Special Judge OP Saini stated in his judgement: "There is no evidence on the record produced before the Court indicating any criminality in the acts allegedly committed by the accused persons.” He added that “the chargesheet of the instant case is based mainly on misreading, selective reading, non-reading and out of context reading of the official record” and that "the chargesheet is based on some oral statements made by the witnesses during investigation, which the witnesses have not owned up in the witness box.”[260]

Delhi High Court Appeal

edit

On 19 and 20 March 2018, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI respectively filed appeals against trial court verdict in the Delhi High Court.[261] On 22 March 2024, Delhi High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma agreed that the trial court's judgement requires deeper examination and re-appreciation of entire evidence and admitted the CBI's appeal. The court said that detailed arguments on the case will take place on 20 May.[8]

In his 120-page judgement, Justice Sharma observed that, "The allegation is not about an “ordinary criminal offence” but an “economic offence” which is a separate class and is “required to be handled with a different approach”. The evidence has to be weighed and not counted. The court during the hearing has also noticed some contradictions in the (trial court's) judgment itself, which requires deeper examination. The trial judge had “repeatedly noted” that the prosecution should have given an opportunity to the witness to explain the statement made by them." The high court said that this raises the question as to, “why the Ld. Judge presiding over the trial did not exercise his jurisdiction under the Indian Evidence Act to seek any clarity, if there was any ambiguity."[262]

See also

edit

Other scams and corruption

edit

Anti-corruption efforts

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "India's 2G scandal". BBC World News. 11 November 2011.
  2. ^ "2G Scam Explained". News18.com. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  3. ^ "2G case: A chronology of events". The Hindu. PTI. 12 December 2011. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  4. ^ "2g Spectrum Scam Verdict Case: Court Judgement on a Raja And Kanimozhi". Amar Ujala. 21 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Some People Created a Scam by Artfully Arranging a Few Selected Facts: 2G Case Judge". The Indian Express.
  6. ^ Garg, Abhinav (22 December 2017). "2G Spectrum Verdict: No Proof of Scam, Says Court". The Times of India.
  7. ^ a b ANI (20 March 2018). "Delhi High Court to hear CBI and ED's appeal on 2G case on Wednesday". Business Standard India. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "2G spectrum case: Delhi High Court admits CBI's plea challenging acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja, others". The Indian Express. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Factbox: India top court orders 200spaper=NDTV".
  10. ^ a b c d e f "What is 2G scam". NDTV.
  11. ^ "Here's how CAG report on 2G scam blasts Raja". Rediff.
  12. ^ a b c d "2G Spectrum Scam: Chronology of events". The Economic Times. 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  13. ^ Shrivastava, Rahul (28 September 2011). "How Raja misused PM's letter while allocating 2G licences". NDTV.
  14. ^ "CAG findings in 2G spectrum case: 'Quite erroneously' 2001 values in 2008, report said". The Indian Express. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  15. ^ CBI Vs. A. Raja and others, Case RC No: 45 (A) 2009, CBI, ACB, New Delhi
  16. ^ "List of 122 licenses cancelled by Supreme Court". India Today. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  17. ^ "SC cancels 122 licences: Are you affected?". MSN. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  18. ^ "List of 122 cancelled 2G licenses;What should subscribers do". One India News.
  19. ^ "List of companies whose 2G licence were cancelled". Odisha Today. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  20. ^ "Idea buys Spice". Plugged In. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008.
  21. ^ "List of companies affected by 2G verdict – Economy and Politics". livemint.com. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  22. ^ "Batelco to buy 49% in S-Tel". The Times of India. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  23. ^ "PE-backed Bahrain Telecom buys 49% in Indian telco for $225M". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010.
  24. ^ Joji Thomas Philip (6 May 2009). "Sahara group acquires 11.7% in S Tel". The Economic Times. ET Bureau. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  25. ^ "NTT DoCoMo buys 26% in Tata Tele for $2.7 bn". Business Standard. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "Charges Against Raja & others". NDTV. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  27. ^ a b c d "2G: CBI files chargesheet against Raja, others". Zee News. 2 April 2011.
  28. ^ a b c d "2G scam: CBI files charge sheet against Loop Telecom owners & Ravi Ruia, Anshuman Ruia of Essar Group". The Economic Times. ET Bureau. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  29. ^ a b c d "2G case: CBI files third chargesheet, names Ruias and Khaitans". The Times of India. TNN. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  30. ^ "A brief history of A. Raja". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  31. ^ "Who is A. Raja ?". NDTV.
  32. ^ "List of ministers for 14th lok sabha". Archived from the original on 4 July 2011.
  33. ^ "Biography of A. Raja". Winentrance.com. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  34. ^ a b "A Raja made Rs 3,000cr in bribes". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.
  35. ^ a b "A Raja made Rs 3,000 cr in bribes". Zee News. 11 February 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  36. ^ "Raja took the money to the safest place, offshore". One India News. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  37. ^ a b "The case against AG". Tehlka. 11 February 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  38. ^ a b "2G case: Charges framed against Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 other accused". The Times of India. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  39. ^ Kattakayam, Jiby (22 October 2011). "2G: charges framed against Raja, Kanimozhi, others; trial on 11 November". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  40. ^ a b c "Nailed: CBI arrests Raja in 2G scam case". IBN Live. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  41. ^ "Finally, Raja applies for bail, seeks parity". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013.
  42. ^ "A Raja, jailed for telecom scam, applies for bail, hearing on Friday". NDTV.
  43. ^ a b "Raja granted bail, whispered prayers as verdict was announced". NDTV. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  44. ^ a b "2G scam: A Raja gets bail after 15 months in jail". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012.
  45. ^ "2G case: A Raja completes a year in Tihar Jail today". India Today.
  46. ^ "Detailed Profile: Smt. Kanimozhi". india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  47. ^ "Biography of Kanimozhi". Flash News Today. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  48. ^ a b "Kanimozhi 'active brain' behind Kalaignar TV operations: CBI". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  49. ^ a b c "Kanimozhi worked with Raja to get Balwa to route Rs 200 cr to Kalaignar TV: CBI". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  50. ^ "DMK's sun sets completely; Kanimozhi arrested in 2G case". One India news.
  51. ^ "2G scam: Kanimozhi arrested, sent to Tihar jail". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  52. ^ "Kani gets bail from HC after six-month stay in Tihar jail". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 31 December 2011.
  53. ^ "Bail for Kanimozhi, four others". The Hindu.
  54. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "2G scam verdict: A Raja, Kanimozhi, others acquitted". The Hindu Business Line.
  55. ^ "Sidharth Behura's bail plea dismissed by Delhi HC". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  56. ^ "2G case: Behura moves Court against charge-framing". The Hindu.
  57. ^ "2G: Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura gets bail". India Today.
  58. ^ "Behura gets bail from SC, hopeful Raja moves city court". Daily Pioneer.
  59. ^ "Raja responsible for 2G mess: Behura to JPC". 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
  60. ^ "2G case: RK Chandolia gets bail despite CBI objections". NDTV.
  61. ^ "Delhi High Court stays Chandolia's bail in 2G scam case". Economic Times.[dead link]
  62. ^ "2G: SC grants bail to Behura, upholds bail to Chandolia". Deccan Herald.
  63. ^ a b Gupta, Manoj; Mukharji, Arunoday (11 February 2013). "2G: CBI finds its own prosecutor AK Singh colluding with one of the accused". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  64. ^ a b "CBI removes 2G prosecutor after 'taped' conversation". HindustanTimes. 11 February 2013. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  65. ^ a b c d e f "2G scam: five corporate leaders sent to jail". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011.
  66. ^ a b "2G scam nets 5 top honchos". Express India.
  67. ^ a b c d e "2G scam: Accused corporate executives walk out of Tihar after bail". NDTV.
  68. ^ "Timeline of 2G scam". First Post.
  69. ^ "Shahid Balwa granted bail". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011.
  70. ^ a b "2G scam: Shahid Balwa's brother Asif arrested". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 1 April 2011.
  71. ^ a b "Kanimozhi, Asif Balwa & three others granted bail in 2G spectrum case". The Economic Times. 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  72. ^ "Kanimozhi & Sarath Kumar arrested". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011.
  73. ^ a b "Kanimozhi granted bail by Delhi high court in 2G case". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011.
  74. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "2G case: CBI files third chargesheet, names Ruias and Khaitans". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  75. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "2G case: CBI files charge sheet against Ravi Ruia, Anshuman Ruia of Essar Group". Economic Times. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  76. ^ a b c d e Kumar, Nirnimesh (21 December 2017). "Ruias, Khaitans too acquitted". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  77. ^ a b c d "Rs 200 crore routed to TV channel in 33 tranches". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  78. ^ "2G scam: Cineyug director helped childhood pals". Indian Express.
  79. ^ "Morani arrested". Rediff News.
  80. ^ "A. Raja, Kanimozhi, others acquitted in 2G spectrum scam case". The Hindu. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  81. ^ Sharma, Amol (1 December 2010). "Wait a Minute, What Exactly Is Barkha Dutt Accused of?". IndiaRealTime. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  82. ^ "Transcript: Radia and Barkha Dutt". India Today. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  83. ^ "Transcript: Radia and Vir Sanghvi". India Today. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  84. ^ Sharma, Amol (1 December 2010). "Wait a Minute, What Exactly Is Barkha Dutt Accused of?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  85. ^ Hui Pan, ed. (October 2010). "ED tells SC that 2G spectrum scam probe is underway". India Telecom Monthly Newsletter: 6.
  86. ^ "A Raja becomes telecom minister". The Times of India. TNN. 16 May 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  87. ^ "DoT gets 575 applications for mobile licences". The Times of India. 11 October 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  88. ^ "DoT press release on 10 January 2008 regarding issuing LoIs" (PDF) (Press release). DoT. DoT. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  89. ^ "DoT 2nd press release on 10 January 2008 for collecting DoT's response on their license" (PDF) (Press release). DoT. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  90. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Business". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  91. ^ "Etisalat buys stake in Swan Telecom". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008.
  92. ^ "Unitech sheds 60% in telco to telenor". The Times of India. 30 October 2008. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
  93. ^ "Delhi HC verdict on telecom licence cut-off date puts Trai in a tight spot". The Financial Express (India). 30 November 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  94. ^ "CBI raids DoT offices over spectrum row". The Times of India. 23 October 2009. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  95. ^ "CBI raids DoT over 2G licences..." DNA. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  96. ^ "Raja faces heat as CBI raids DoT on 2G scam". India Today. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  97. ^ "SC upholds Delhi HC observations on cut off date advancement for 2G telecom licences". domain-b.com. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  98. ^ "SC won't interfere in 2G ruling of HC". The Times of India. 13 March 2010.
  99. ^ "2G scam: Text of the special leave petition". Rediff. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  100. ^ "Ratan Tata's dirty talk to Nira Radia.!!". YouTube. 17 December 2010. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  101. ^ "I-T files affidavit on 2G allocation case". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 27 September 2010.
  102. ^ "SC pulls up CBI for tardy spectrum probe". Thestatesman.co.in. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  103. ^ "2G spectrum scam: Supreme Court pulls up CBI | India News | Indian Current Affairs | News Today India | News | Latest News | News Today". International Reporter. 29 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  104. ^ "A Raja resigns after PM Manmohan Singh's veiled threat". DNA India. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  105. ^ "A Raja submits resignation to PM over 2G scam". The Times of India. 15 November 2010. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  106. ^ "Kapil Sibal given charge of Telecom Ministry". The Times of India. 15 November 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013.
  107. ^ Joshi, Sandeep (15 November 2010). "Kapil Sibal to look after Communications Ministry". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  108. ^ "2G spectrum scam: Supreme Court examines PM's affidavit". Ndtv.com. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  109. ^ "2G scam: Supreme Court to examine PM's affidavit". The Times of India. 23 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
  110. ^ "Prime Minister's affidavit in 2G scam denies inaction". Hindustan Times. 20 November 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  111. ^ "SC questions CVC Thomas' tenability to supervise probe". The Times of India. 30 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  112. ^ "2G spectrum scam: Don't let anyone influence you, says Supreme Court to CBI". Ndtv.com. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  113. ^ "Supreme Court decides to monitor 2G scam probe : Investigations". India Today. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  114. ^ "SC to monitor CBI probe into 2G spectrum scam". CNN IBN. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  115. ^ "2G scam: Supreme Court reserves order on cancellation of licences". DNA India. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  116. ^ "SC reserves order on cancellation of 2G licences". The Indian Express. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  117. ^ "CBI files chargesheet against A Raja & Shahid Balwa". The Times of India. 2 April 2011. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
  118. ^ Kumar, Vinay (2 April 2011). "Charge sheet puts 2G scam loss at 22000 crore (US$4.0 billion)". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  119. ^ "CBI files chargesheet against 12 in 2G scam, News – Nation". Mumbai Mirror. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  120. ^ "2G scam: CBI names DMK MP Kanimozhi co-conspirator". Financialexpress.com. 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  121. ^ "2G scam: CBI files second chargesheet". Asianetindia.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  122. ^ Pti (25 April 2011). "CBI charge sheets Kanimozhi, 4 others in 2G scam". News.oneindia.in. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  123. ^ "Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar appear in CBI court". New Delhi: Mid-Day. IANS. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  124. ^ "2G case: Kanimozhi appears before CBI court, seeks bail". daily.bhaskar.com. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  125. ^ "Kanimozhi appears before court, puts blame on Raja". The Times of India. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  126. ^ "SC issues contempt notice to Sahara's Subroto Roy". Firstpost. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  127. ^ "SC slaps contempt notice on Subrata Roy". Deccanherald.com. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  128. ^ "Kanimozhi arrested as bail plea rejected by CBI court in 2G scam". The Times of India. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
  129. ^ "2G scam: Kanimozhi in Tihar Jail after court rejects bail plea". The Indian Express. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  130. ^ "Delhi high court rejects Kanimozhi's bail plea". The Times of India. 8 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  131. ^ "Delhi High Court rejects Kanimozhi's bail plea". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011.
  132. ^ "SC rejects Kanimozhi's bail plea". The Times of India. 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  133. ^ "SC rejects Kani bail plea". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  134. ^ "SC rejects Kani bail plea". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  135. ^ "2G scam: Court allows Swamy to conduct own case". The Indian Express. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  136. ^ "CBI court allows Swamy to argue 2G case". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 27 August 2011.
  137. ^ "2G scam: ED orders freezing of accounts, attachment of properties". DNA India. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  138. ^ Kumar, Vinay (30 August 2011). "ED orders attachment of properties in 2G scam". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  139. ^ "FEMA violation of Rs 10k crore detected in 2G scam:ED tells SC". The Economic Times. PTI. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  140. ^ Kattakayam, Jiby (16 September 2011). "I have fresh evidence of Chidambaram's role in 2G pricing: Swamy". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  141. ^ "CBI wants 'criminal breach of trust' charge against Raja". The Times of India. 14 October 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  142. ^ "CBI wants to add stringent charges against Raja, other accused in 2G case". The Times of India. 27 September 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  143. ^ a b c "Aircel-Maxis deal: CBI books Dayanidhi Maran, brother". The Indian Express. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  144. ^ a b c "Maran booked, raided". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  145. ^ a b c "CBI books Maran brothers in Aircel-Maxis deal, raids premises". DNA India. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  146. ^ "2G scam: Court reserves notice, CBI opposes probe against Chidambaram". Firstpost. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  147. ^ Venkatesan, J. (10 October 2011). "Court reserves orders on plea for CBI probe against Chidambaram". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  148. ^ "CBI books, raids Maran brothers". Hindustan Times. 10 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  149. ^ "Court frames charges against all 17 accused". The Times of India. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  150. ^ "2G scam: A Raja, Kanimozhi, 15 others set to face trial". The Indian Express. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  151. ^ "Kanimozhi, 7 others denied bail in 2G case". The Times of India. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  152. ^ "Court orders CBI to give Swamy copy of 2G file". The Indian Express. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  153. ^ "Court asks CBI to give copy of file on 2G scam to Subramanian Swamy". The Times of India. 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  154. ^ "Is judge bound by CBI concession for Kanimozhi, asks Delhi High Court". DNA India. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  155. ^ "Delhi HC issues notice to CBI on Kanimozhi's bail plea". The Times of India. 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011.
  156. ^ "2G trial begins today, ADAG faces court first". The Times of India. 11 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  157. ^ "2G scam: Raja, Kanimozhi and others go on trial today". Ndtv.com. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  158. ^ "Restrain Swamy from making public allegations: Centre requests SC". Daily Pioneer. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  159. ^ "UPA govt moves SC to restrain Swamy". Hindustan Times. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 18 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  160. ^ "2G case trial to be shifted to Tihar Jail". The Indian Express. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  161. ^ "2G trial shifts to Tihar, defence to challenge order". Hindustan Times. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 25 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  162. ^ "SC grants bail to 5 corporate executives". The Times of India. 23 November 2011.
  163. ^ "2G trial: Kanimozhi and 4 others granted bail". Firstpost. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  164. ^ "Kanimozhi, 4 others get bail in 2G case; Karunanidhi elated". The Times of India. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  165. ^ "2G scam: Shahid Balwa gets bail". Deccan Chronicle. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  166. ^ "Shahid Balwa granted bail". Daily Pioneer. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  167. ^ "Raja's ex-private secretary Chandolia gets bail in 2G scam case : North". India Today. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  168. ^ "RK Chandolia, Raja's ex-private secretary, gets bail in 2G scam case". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  169. ^ "HC stays bail, but Chandolia already out". Hindustan Times. 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  170. ^ "SC stays Delhi HC proceedings against Chandolia". India Today. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  171. ^ "2G scam: SC stays HC's suo motu order against Chandolia's bail". The Times of India. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  172. ^ "Swamy gets a crack at bete-noire PC". Daily Pioneer. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  173. ^ "2G scam:Court accepts Swamy's plea against Chidambaram". English.samaylive.com. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  174. ^ Kattakayam, Jiby (14 December 2005). "News / National : Caught in 2G Loop, Essar executives chargesheeted". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  175. ^ "Now, CBI names Ruias in fresh 2G chargesheet". The Times of India. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  176. ^ "Behura's bail plea rejected by Delhi HC". Daily Pioneer. New Delhi. The Pioneer. 17 December 2011. p. 1. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  177. ^ "2G scam: SC scraps 122 licences granted under Raja's tenure, trial court to decide on Chidambaram's role". The Times of India. 2 February 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  178. ^ "2G verdict: SC cancels 122 licenses issued after Jan 2008". Money Control. 2 February 2012.
  179. ^ "2G scam: Swamy's petition to make Chidambaram co-accused dismissed". The Times of India. TNN. 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  180. ^ a b "2G Scam: Swamy moves SC challenging court order on Chidambaram". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.
  181. ^ a b "2G scam: ED registers money laundering case against Marans". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  182. ^ "Essar approaches SC in 2G licence case". DNA.
  183. ^ "Supreme Court to hear Essar Tech's plea on 12 feb". India Today.
  184. ^ "2G scam: SC refuses to grant protection to Essar and Loop". IBN live. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012.
  185. ^ "DMK's MoS sought to derail 2G probe". 22 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  186. ^ "Subramanian Swamy files petition in SC against Chidambaram". Times of India.
  187. ^ "Economic Times". Economic Times.
  188. ^ "2G verdict: Auction can't be only way to allot natural assets, government says". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  189. ^ "2G licences cancellation: Sistema files review petition in Supreme Court". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012.
  190. ^ a b "2G spectrum scam: Supreme Court dismisses all but one review petition Close". Economic Times.
  191. ^ "2G: Centre files presidential reference in SC". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  192. ^ "Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura granted bail in 2G scam case". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  193. ^ "2G Scam: Behura, Chandolia Granted Bail". Outlook. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
  194. ^ "Raja seeks bail after Supreme Court relief for Behura". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  195. ^ "2G spectrum case: A Raja gets bail, to walk out of Tihar jail after 15 months". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  196. ^ "2G case: A Raja can visit Tamil Nadu". DNA. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  197. ^ "Enough proof to nail Karuna's wife, Kanimozhi in 2G scam: ED tells JPC". The Times of India. 4 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  198. ^ "Raja was final authority to take DoT decisions: Srivastava". 1 August 2012.
  199. ^ "If you distort policy, it is not FCFS, says CJI on 2G allocation". 2 August 2012.
  200. ^ "Cabinet sets Rs 14,000 cr as reserve price for 2G spectrum". Firstpost. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  201. ^ "Cabinet decision on 2G auction price demolishes zero-loss theory". The Hindu. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  202. ^ Venkatesan, J. (10 August 2012). "Centre wants time till 12 Nov. for 2G auction". The Hindu.
  203. ^ "2G scam: Trial completes 1 yr, over 100 witnesses examined". Business Standard. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  204. ^ "Gurudas Dasgupta rubbishes JPC report on 2G scam". The Hindu. KOLKATA. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  205. ^ Khetan, Ashish (15 September 2012). "The Silence of the Lamb". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  206. ^ Singh, Shalini (23 April 2013). "In letter to JPC, Raja links PM to all key 2G decisions". The Hindu. NEW DELHI. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  207. ^ a b "In the Court of O. P. Saini: Spl. Judge, CBI (04)(2G Spectrum Cases), New Delhi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  208. ^ "2G case: HC directs Shahid Balwa, others to plant 15,000 trees". Telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com.
  209. ^ "2G scam: CBI commences fresh arguments in High Court in appeal against acquittals". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  210. ^ "Central Bureau Of Investigation vs A.Raja & Ors on 23 November, 2020". indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  211. ^ "Central Bureau Of Investigation vs A Raja & Ors on 23 November, 2020". indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  212. ^ "SC cites 2G taint to deny Loop Telecom refund of entry fee". The Indian Express. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  213. ^ Jha, Prashant (13 April 2023). "2G Scam: After 5 years, 95 listings and 7 judges, cases before Delhi High Court may finally move forward". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  214. ^ a b "Supreme Court quashes 122 2G licences awarded in 2008". DNA.
  215. ^ "Five crore fine for Unitech, Swan and Tata Teleservices". NDTV.
  216. ^ a b c d e f g h i "SC quashes 122 licences". The Times of India. 2 February 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  217. ^ "Licences to remain in place for 4 months". Times of India.
  218. ^ a b c d e f g h "SC singles out Raja, says officers were cowed down". Indian Express.
  219. ^ "2G scam: Supreme Court verdict factbox". The Times of India. 2 February 2012.
  220. ^ Venkatesan, J. (2 February 2012). "Supreme Court cancels 122 2G licences". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  221. ^ "Bahrain Telecom first to exit India". India Today.
  222. ^ "Batelco hangs up as SC blow hits home". DNA.
  223. ^ PTI (1 September 2014). "Batelco to seek $212 million from bankrupt Sivasankaran". Livemint. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  224. ^ "Telenor dumps Unitech to form new company". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016.
  225. ^ "Telenor sues Unitech for compensation". Deccan Herald.
  226. ^ "Contest Telenor's demand for compensation: Unitech". Sify. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  227. ^ "Etisalat sues Balwa, Goenka". Times of India.
  228. ^ "Etisalat sues Vinod Goenka, Shahid Balwa for fraud". DNA.
  229. ^ "Etisalat drags Balwa & Goenka to court". India Today.
  230. ^ "After 2G Verdict, Telecom Companies to Sue Government over Cancellation of Licenses".
  231. ^ "Dayanidhi Maran resigns from Union Cabinet". The Times of India. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  232. ^ "Probe over, CBI soon to file chargesheet against Marans". The Daily Pioneer. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  233. ^ "Court Reserves Order on CBI's Chargesheet". Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  234. ^ "Court summons Maran brothers". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  235. ^ "ED attaches Rs 742 crore assets of Marans". Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  236. ^ a b "Govt's defence of Chidambaram rings hollow". The Pioneer. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  237. ^ "Aircel-Maxis Deal: Parliament Disrupted Over PC's Role". Outlook India. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  238. ^ "Aircel-Maxis Deal: PC Dismisses Charges as Reckless". Outlook India. 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  239. ^ "Document shows Chidambaram delayed Aircel-Maxis deal by 7 months". India Today. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  240. ^ "Govt trapped in own web of deceit". The Pioneer. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  241. ^ Singh, Aditi (19 July 2018). "Aircel-Maxis case: CBI files charge sheet against Chidambaram, son". livemint.com/. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  242. ^ "Opposition demands JPC". News 24. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  243. ^ a b c "2G scam: Opposition chants 'we want JPC'; No, says Government". NDTV.
  244. ^ "CAG report tabled in parliament". IBN. Archived from the original on 17 November 2010.
  245. ^ "Spectrum sparks fly, opposition blocks parliament". Yahoo India News.
  246. ^ Dutta, Sushmita (8 December 2010). "Parliament logjam continues... 10, 13, 15, 18 days..." Zee News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  247. ^ "Meira Kumar's bid to end 2G logjam fails". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  248. ^ "Winter session worked just 9 hours, but cost 172 crore". Deccan Herald.
  249. ^ "Budget session of parliament begins today; JPC on the cards". HindustanTimes. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013.
  250. ^ "JPC grills CBI: why clean chit to PM, Chidambaram?". 25 July 2012.
  251. ^ "CBI questions Dayanidhi". 27 July 2012.
  252. ^ Ramakrishnan, Sathyalaya (2 November 2010). "2G Spectrum Scam: Karunanidhi protecting union minister Raja for extraneous reasons- Jayalalithaa charges". Asian Tribune. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  253. ^ "Telecom Minister A Raja resigns". The Indian Express. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  254. ^ a b Joji Thomas Philip (18 November 2010). "2G scam: Govt to pull up five telcos". The Economic Times. The Times Group.
  255. ^ "PM hits out at CAG on 2G, oil firms". The Times of India. The Times Group. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  256. ^ Singh, Shalini (5 July 2012). "After rigorous self-appraisal, CAG sticks to its guns on 2G". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  257. ^ "In the Court of O. P. Saini: Spl. Judge, CBI (04)/PMLA (2G Spectrum Cases), New Delhi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  258. ^ "2G case verdict - Updates: presumptive loss in spectrum allocation was 'cooked up', says Raja". The Hindu. 21 December 2017.
  259. ^ "2G scam verdict: All 18 accused including A Raja acquitted, Congress seeks ex-CAG Vinod Rai's apology". Businesstoday.in. 21 December 2017.
  260. ^ "2G case verdict: CBI court acquits A Raja, Kanimozhi and all other accused". Indian Express. 21 December 2017.
  261. ^ ANI (20 March 2018). "Delhi High Court to hear CBI and ED's appeal on 2G case on Wednesday". Business Standard India. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  262. ^ Singh, Soibam Rocky (22 March 2024). "2G scam case: Delhi HC allows CBI to challenge A. Raja's acquittal". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2G_spectrum_case&oldid=1254742179"