New Delhi(IANS) | The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked CBI, ED, former Telecom Minister A.K. Raja and other parties to present their stand on the petition filed against the acquittal of the respondents and companies in the 2G spectrum allocation case. A bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma asked the parties to file only brief written submissions.
The judge fixed the matter for May 22 and 23, as the CBI’s counsel requested the court to list the matter at the earliest, so that he could present his case on being allowed to appeal.
The lawyer said that there is an urgent need for hearing in the matter. Fix a day-to-day hearing in the matter any time of the day. Leave to appeal is a formal permission granted by a court to a party to challenge a judgment in a higher court.
Justice Brijesh Sethi, who had earlier presided over the case, had resigned on November 30. But he had discharged it from his board on 23 November due to paucity of time.
Before leaving office, Justice Sethi had decided various petitions and applications filed by individuals and firms acquitted in three cases arising out of the 2G scam probe registered by the CBI and the ED.
After the CBI completes arguments in its main case, the high court will take up the money laundering case brought by the ED in which all the accused were acquitted by the special court.
On 21 December 2017, a special court acquitted Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and other accused in the CBI and ED cases related to the scam.
On 19 March 2018, the ED approached the High Court challenging the special court’s order acquitting all the accused. A day later, the CBI also challenged the acquittal of the accused in the case in the High Court.
The CBI had told the High Court that the trial court judgment in the 2G spectrum scam case, which had acquitted all the accused, was challenged after the Center was of the opinion that it was a fit case for appeal.
The scam came to light nearly seven years ago when the Comptroller and Auditor General in a report held the then telecom minister Raja responsible for a loss of Rs 1,76,379 crore to the state exchequer by allocating 2G spectrum licenses at throwaway prices. .
However, the trial court found that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges. However, the judgment does not nullify the Supreme Court’s ruling that the licenses issued during the 2G spectrum allocation were invalid.
–IANS
