CBI court reserves verdict against Raja, Kanimozhi in 2G scam cases

A special CBI court on Wednesday reserved its verdict in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases involving former telecom minister A Raja, DMK leader Kanimozhi and others.

Special Judge O P Saini is likely to pronounce the judgement in the multi-crore scam on July 15. It fixed July 5 as the next date to seek clarifications, if any, from the parties involved.

The court has been hearing three cases — two filed by the CBI and the third by the Enforcement Directorate.
The CBI had filed two cases against Raja and others in connection with the scam about six years ago.

 In one case, apart from Raja, former telecom secretary Sidharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka as well as managing director of Unitech Ltd Sanjay Chandra are accused.

In the second case, Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband I P Khaitan and Essar Group director Vikash Saraf are facing trial.

Three firms — Loop Telecom Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding Ltd (ETHL) —  have been charged in the case.

 The ED later filed a separate case in 2014, charging the accused with money laundering of about Rs 200 crore. It filed a charge sheet against 19 accused, including nine private companies, on the basis of the criminal case filed by the CBI.