Judge Saini raps govt, corporates and delivers 2G bombshell

After a day of high drama and packed courts, all 17 alleged of criminal conspiracy in the 2G scam were formally charged.

CBI Judge OP Saini set the trial date as November 11. In a 700-page plus order, the CBI court charged former Telecom minister A Raja, Kanimozhi and former telecom officials with criminal breach of trust that could amount to life imprisonment.

"The conspiracy started after accused A Raja became minister of communications and IT on May 16 and its physical manifestation started becoming clear in August-September, 2007 on receipt of the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) dated August 28, 2007. The conspiracy continued till the last tranche of money, Rs 50 crore, was received by Kalaignar TV on August 7, 2009, as illegal gratification," the Judge said, while reading out the charges.

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[caption id="attachment_114862" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials carry the 2G spectrum case charge sheet to a court in New Delhi April 2, 2011. Reuters"][/caption]

Rubbishing Raja's claim that he didn't change the Telecom policy, the Judge also said, "Affordability of mobile phones does not mean that public servants would start subverting the law in the process of filling up their own pockets by taking bribes." He also said that there was no need for conspirators to take part in every stage of the conspiracy to be held guilty.

Putting the blame directly on corporates, the Judge said: "Source of funding for Swan Telecom wasReliance CommunicationLimited/ Reliance Telecom Limited. Swan Telecom was not only an associate but a front, or a facade for Reliance Communications/Reliance Telecom. In a sense Swan Telecom was Reliance Communication/Reliance Telecom itself and Swan Telecom was just a mask for it."

In a separate application the CBI had sought to charge Raja, Behrua and RK Chandolia (Raja's personal secretary) under IPC 409, but the Judge charged only Raja and Behrua with criminal conspiracy and left out Chandolia because he had not signed any documents.