2G Scam: Here’s What SC Said In Its 2012 Order Cancelling 2G Licences Granted During Raja’s Tenure

The Telecom Ministry under A Raja “virtually gifted away important national asset” at throwaway prices, the Supreme Court had said in its 2012 judgement in the 2G case that quashed the grant of 122 UAS licences and allocation of spectrum to 12 private companies during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s rule.

"The exercise undertaken by the officers of the DoT between September 2007 and March 2008, under the leadership of the then telecom minister A Raja was wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to public interest apart from being violative of the doctrine of equality," the court had said in its judgement.

“The material produced before the Court shows that the Minister of C&IT wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the Public Exchequer,” it added.

"This arbitrary action of the Minister of C&IT though appears to be innocuous was actually intended to benefit some of the real estate companies who did not have any experience in dealing with telecom services and who had made applications only on 24.9.2007, i.e. one day before the cut off date fixed by the Minister of C&IT on his own," the judgement read.

The apex court’s decision, according to the Indian Express, had sent a clear message to the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court that the 2G spectrum allocation of 2008 was a scam and did not result from a policy decision made by the government. The court had, however, according to the daily, noted that the observations and conclusions made in the judgment would not influence the court of the Special Judge O P Saini, where the trial is the scam case was on.

Indeed, five years after the landmark judgement, the observations made by the apex court regarding Raja’s conduct appear to have been ignored.

A special CBI court led by Saini today (21 December) acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and several others accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases.