'It was a scam by Vinod Rai': Congress tears into ex-CAG after 2G verdict

Special Judge O P Saini acquitted all the accused, including then Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimohi, in both the cases filed by the CBI and ED

Last Updated : Dec 23 2017 | 1:13 PM IST

A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted all the accused in the alleged multi-thousand crore rupee 2G spectrum scandal.

Special Judge O P Saini acquitted all the accused, including then Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimohi, in both the cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The alleged scam on the issuance of licences and allocation of 2G spectrum by the Department of Telecom occurred during the Congress-led UPA government's first tenure in 2008 but was widely reported in 2010 following a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Congress leaders said that the verdict vindicated then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA's stand that there was no scam in the allocation of spectrum and licences to telecom companies.

Manmohan Singh said that a massive propaganda was unleashed against his government over the 2G spectrum allocation and now the judgment speaks for itself, TV channels reported.

Lashing out at the former CAG, Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "I have been saying all along that this was not a scam. It was a scam by Vinod Rai. We stand vindicated."

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram also hit out at Rai, saying, "The supposed 2G scam at the highest levels of the government was never true, was never correct, and that has been established."

Congress leader Manish Tewari asked Vinod Rai to apologise to the nation for 'presumptive sensational corrosive numbers into public discourse'. "He was author of imbecile 1.76 thousand crore loss theory that I had destroyed during my cross examination of Rai in JPC. Court has affirmed JPC Report," he tweeted.

Reacting to the verdict Shashi Tharoor said, "Clearly the Court found that innocent people have been wronged. Justice has worked as it is supposed to work in our country."

Senior DMK Leader Durai Murugan welcomed the court verdict. "Conspiracies were hatched against us but all have been blown away now," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, on whose PIL CBI probe was ordered in 2G case, said that the government should appeal in high court against acquittals