2G spectrum case: Six years later, Delhi High Court admits CBI appeal against acquittal of A Raja, others

The Delhi High Court on Friday admitted the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the acquittal of A Raja, K Kanimozhi and 15 other high-profile politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats in the 2G spectrum allocation cases. .Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma allowed CBI's "leave to appeal” against the trial court order acquitting 17 accused in the 2G case.Leave to appeal is a formal permission granted by a court to a party to challenge a decision before a higher court."The court on the basis of material on record, and after going through the sworn testimonies, material on record, impugned judgement and the submissions made at bar by both the parties has reached on an objective satisfaction that there is a prima facie case which requires deeper examination and re-appreciation/re-appraisal of entire evidence," Justice Sharma said.He added that arguable points have been made out by the CBI thereby converting grant of Leave to Appeal..The order on the plea was reserved on March 14, 2024, six years and 125 listings after it was first heard. The matter was heard by 7 different judges before it finally came to Justice Sharma..2G Scam: After 5 years, 95 listings and 7 judges, cases before Delhi High Court may finally move forward.A Special CBI Court at Patiala House had in December 2017 acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others implicated in the case.As per the CBI’s charges, Raja, who was Union Telecom Minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, caused huge losses to the state exchequer by undercharging telecom firms for frequency licences. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India had estimated the total loss to be ₹1.76 trillion.The other accused in the case include former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Managing Director D Sanjay Chandra, and three top executives of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group – Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair.In February 2012, the Supreme Court had cancelled 122 telecom licenses and spectrum allocated to nine companies, holding that the process of allocation was faulty..CBI had moved the High Court with its leave to appeal plea in March 2018, challenging the acquittal of all accused. The plea was heard for the first time on March 21, 2018. The agency argued that the trial court judgment suffers from inconsistencies and that there is no reason why the High Court should not hear the appeal. .Senior Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Sanjay Jain argued the case for CBI before the High Court. .[Read Judgement]