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The Special Court, which rejected a plea by Dr Subramanian Swamy to make the Home Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, a co-accused in the 2G case, sought to pin the blame on the then Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, and his Ministry officials.
While giving a clean chit to Mr Chidambaram, the Special Judge, Mr O.P. Saini, also blamed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting officials and private persons for the alleged wrongdoings.
The alleged incriminating acts include the subversion of the process of issuance of Letters of Intent (LOI), UAS Licences and allocation of spectrum included arbitrary fixation of the cut-off date, filing and procuring of applications for UAS Licences on behalf of ineligible companies, violation of first-come first-served policy in the issuance of LOIs, UAS Licences and allocation of spectrum and payment and receipt of bribe, the Special Judge noted.
“A bare perusal of the allegations and the evidence, led in support thereof, reveals that neither are there any allegations nor is evidence against Mr P. Chidambaram to the effect that he played any role in the subversion of the process of issuance of LOI, UAS Licences and allocation of spectrum in the years 2007-08,” the court said.
Raja acted on his own
The Supreme Court, which had recently cancelled 122 2G licences issued during Mr Raja's tenure, had also in effect said that Mr Raja acted on his own.
The apex court noted that Mr Raja had ‘ignored' Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's suggestion to ensure fairness and transparency in the allocation of spectrum, and ‘did not consult' the Finance Minister or the officers of the Finance Ministry on the allocation of 2G spectrum at the rates fixed in 2001.
The apex court added that Mr Raja ‘brushed aside' the recommendation made by the Minister of Law and Justice for placing the matter before the Empowered Group of Ministers.
The material produced before it shows that Mr Raja wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer, the apex court observed.
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