2G court records statements of 153 witnesses

Statements of 153 people running into 4,400 pages have been recorded by a special court in the second generation (2G) spectrum case, as it Wednesday concluded the process of examining prosecution witnesses.

The special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)judge O.P. Saini will start recording the statements of the accused, including former communications minister A. Raja, from Jan 20.

The cross examination of CBI superintendent and Chief Investigating Officer Vivek Priyadarshi, testifying as a prosecution witness in the case concluded Wednesday.

Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati; former additional private secretary to Raja, Aseervatham Achary; Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ex-chairman Nripendra Misra; former Indian corporate lobbyist Niira Radia; former Deputy Director General (Access Services), Department of Telecommunication A.K. Srivastava; former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Govenor D. Subbarao; DMK chief M. Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal; Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani were among the CBI witnesses who deposed before the court.

The court Nov 11, 2011 started the daily trial after accepting the CBI plea and framing graft and other charges against 17 accused, including Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi.

Special Judge O.P. Saini also recorded the evidence of over 80 witnesses in a separate 2G case, involving Essar and Loop Telecom promoters.

The special court was set up last year on the direction of the Supreme Court.

According to the government auditor, Raja was biased while distributing 2G mobile airwaves and operating licences to telecom firms, causing a loss of up to Rs.1.76 lakh crore in revenue to the treasury.

All the individual accused, including Raja, are out on bail.