ED-CBI appeal in 2G case: Delhi HC issues notice to A Raja, Kanimozhi, others

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to all accused in the 2G Spectrum case following the appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging a special court order acquitting former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the scam case.

The high court also ordered to maintain status quo in relation to attached properties by the ED.

Rajeev Awasthi, advocate representing the ED in 2G Spectrum case, said, “Court while issuing notice on interim application granted status quo order with regard to attached property, this means the property remains with the ED.”

The court has fixed May 25 as next date of hearing.

Earlier this week, the CBI and the ED moved the Delhi High Court challenging the special court’s verdict against acquittal of A Raja, Kanimozhi and others in a money laundering case arising out of the 2G scam.

Read: CBI moves Delhi HC against acquittal of A Raja, Kanimozhi in 2G case

The special court had on December 21, 2017 acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and others in the cases registered by the CBI and the ED. Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, the special court had acquitted 17 others, including DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka of STPL, Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd., film producer Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Director of Kalaignar TV Sharad Kumar in the ED case.

Also read: 2G scam verdict: Delhi court acquits A Raja, DMK's Kanimozhi, others

The ED, in its charge sheet, had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd (STPL) promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV.

On the same day, the trial court had acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others, including former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd. MD Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) -- Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair, in the CBI's 2G case.

The CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in allocation of licences for 2G spectrum which were scrapped by the top court on February 2, 2012.

Special Judge OP Saini had held that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove the charges.

The special court, which was set up on March 14, 2011 for hearing 2G cases exclusively, had also acquitted Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia and six others in a separate case arising out of the 2G scam probe.

The first case, prosecuted by the CBI, had 17 accused, while the second matter, pursued by the ED, had 19 accused. The third one had eight accused including Essar promoters. In the CBI case, Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others were tried under provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using as genuine fake documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribe.

(With inputs from agencies)