A CBI court recently acquitted all the accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
How did it all begin?
In September 2007, the Department of Telecom (DoT) issued just a week’s time for companies to apply for mobile phone licences.
As spectrums were priced artificially low, a mad scramble followed and 575 applications were received, most of which were from little known firms.
The DoT then issued 122 licences by adopting a controversial ‘first-come first-served policy’, which privileged those who applied at the earliest.
A CAG report in 2008 on 2G spectrum allocations, estimated a loss of R1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
Consequently, in 2010, Mr. Raja resigned as telecom minister and he was later arrested in early 2011.
Notably, the Delhi High Court set up a special court to fast-track the case.
How did the case proceed?
CBI filed its chargesheet and subsequently DMK MP ‘Ms. Kanimozhi’ and the MD of “Kalaignar TV” ‘Mr. Sharad Kumar’ were also arrested in late 2011.
CBI also filed an FIR against another DMK leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother kalanithi Maran.
Overall, the trial began against 17 people, that included the telecom executives of Unitech, Swan Telecom and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
In early 2012, Supreme Court cancelled all the 122 telecom licences allocated to nine companies in 2007, by holding ‘first-come, first-served’ policy at fault.
Income-Tax department, in 2013, submitted to the SC, the recordings of 5,800 tapped controversial phone conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and politicians.
Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its 2014 chargesheet, accused Mr. Raja, and Ms. Kanimozhi of money laundering.
In 2015, CBI records in court that the Mr. Raja “misled” the then PM Manmohan Singh on policy matters pertaining to 2G spectrum allocation.
Finally, the special court concluded its hearing in April 2017, and it recently pronounced its final order, which aquitted all the people.
It remains to be seen if the case is proceeded ahead with appeals against the current order in higher courts (HC and SC).
What are the policy spin-offs from the case?
SC’s order that cancelled all the 122 2G licences issued in 2008 was perceieved as a judicial over-reach into the policy domain.
Hence, it moved a presidential reference with eight questions, that included the rationale of “auction being the only mode for allocation of resources”.
On hearing the presidential reference, by five-judge constitution bench, the SC concluded uphoplding the primacy of the government in the policy domain.
It also explicitly stated that auctions is not a must for all resource allocations and that maximisation of revenue cannot be the sole criterion in all situations.
