The suspense has ended. The mother of all scams got an unexpected twist. Former Telecom Minister A Raja, who was accused of masterminding India's biggest ever scam has been acquitted along with DMK chief M Karunanidhi's daughter M Kanimozhi in the scandalous 2G spectrum case.
A special court ruled that CBI filed a "well choreographed chargesheet" with incorrect facts which miserably failed to prove charges. It also held that charges were based on rumour, gossip and speculation with no concrete material evidence. The estimation of losses as pegged down by CAG and CBI were tossed out with the court stating that figures were "artfully" arranged to project a scam when there was none. While the CAG in its report had estimated a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer, the CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore in allocation of licences for 2G spectrum.
In a case where political victories and losses were at stake, the BJP will be left red-faced while Congress begin beating victory drums. The BJP was quick to react and asked the Congress not to wear this judgement as a badge of honour. However, the Congress, which was brought to its knees on account of the scam, will see the verdict as a huge political victory. This comes close on the heels of a morale-boosting performance at the Gujarat election and be also boost the morale of Rahul Gandhi post his alleviation as Congress president. It will also effectively silence the corruption charge leveled against the UPA-2 and Manmohan Singh, whose name was being linked to the scam, will get a new ‘voice'. The Congress will use this verdict as a tool to attack the saffron party on the corruption charge while questioning the prime minister Narendra Modi's anti-corruption plank.
There are personal and political victories for both A Raja and T Kanimozhi who were seen as faces of this mega corruption scam. The DMK will no longer remain an untouchable for alliances and the Congress will now extend a hand of friendship against the backdrop of a weakened AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
For CBI this is a huge body blow and the apex court-appointed special public prosecutor Anand Grover who came in for sharp criticism. The court said the quality of prosecution in 2G cases had "totally deteriorated" and by the end it became "directionless.
The Congress may be heaving a sigh of relief but questions will still be raised if the 2G verdict would absolve the UPA of corruption or any wrong-doing, especially with the backdrop of the SC verdict of February 2, 2012 which ruled that allotment of spectrum is "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and cancelled the 122 licenses issued in 2008 under Raja.
As the CBI readies for appeal, questions will be raised over the seriousness of law officers and the agency itself in fighting corruption. The CBI justification that documentary evidence was not given due credence and oral evidence given more weightage will not hold. Both the CAG and the CBI will have to explain how these figures failed to make sense to the court and how the case fell flat. Is it the CBI's lack of intent that saw the case reach such a dead end?
A special court ruled that CBI filed a "well choreographed chargesheet" with incorrect facts which miserably failed to prove charges. It also held that charges were based on rumour, gossip and speculation with no concrete material evidence. The estimation of losses as pegged down by CAG and CBI were tossed out with the court stating that figures were "artfully" arranged to project a scam when there was none. While the CAG in its report had estimated a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer, the CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore in allocation of licences for 2G spectrum.
In a case where political victories and losses were at stake, the BJP will be left red-faced while Congress begin beating victory drums. The BJP was quick to react and asked the Congress not to wear this judgement as a badge of honour. However, the Congress, which was brought to its knees on account of the scam, will see the verdict as a huge political victory. This comes close on the heels of a morale-boosting performance at the Gujarat election and be also boost the morale of Rahul Gandhi post his alleviation as Congress president. It will also effectively silence the corruption charge leveled against the UPA-2 and Manmohan Singh, whose name was being linked to the scam, will get a new ‘voice'. The Congress will use this verdict as a tool to attack the saffron party on the corruption charge while questioning the prime minister Narendra Modi's anti-corruption plank.
There are personal and political victories for both A Raja and T Kanimozhi who were seen as faces of this mega corruption scam. The DMK will no longer remain an untouchable for alliances and the Congress will now extend a hand of friendship against the backdrop of a weakened AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
For CBI this is a huge body blow and the apex court-appointed special public prosecutor Anand Grover who came in for sharp criticism. The court said the quality of prosecution in 2G cases had "totally deteriorated" and by the end it became "directionless.
The Congress may be heaving a sigh of relief but questions will still be raised if the 2G verdict would absolve the UPA of corruption or any wrong-doing, especially with the backdrop of the SC verdict of February 2, 2012 which ruled that allotment of spectrum is "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and cancelled the 122 licenses issued in 2008 under Raja.
As the CBI readies for appeal, questions will be raised over the seriousness of law officers and the agency itself in fighting corruption. The CBI justification that documentary evidence was not given due credence and oral evidence given more weightage will not hold. Both the CAG and the CBI will have to explain how these figures failed to make sense to the court and how the case fell flat. Is it the CBI's lack of intent that saw the case reach such a dead end?
