2G spectrum scam: Congress, DMK stand vindicated, but will it be a short-lived joy?

Around seven years after the "mother of all scams" or the "2G scam" came to light, a special CBI court on Thursday acquitted all 18 accused, including then telecom minister A Raja and DMK leader K Kanimozhi, in the spectrum allocation case that shook the political world in India to its core. Many believe the "scam" played an important role in the BJP victory in the 2014 General Elections, but the verdict has surely given some relief to the Congress and the DMK, both of which faced continuous political decline after a string of scams were unearthed during their government at the centre.  

With the special judge O.P. Saini giving clean chit to all the 18 accused, saying "I have absolutely no hesitation holding that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any charge agiainst any accused", the Congress and DMK, which were coalition partners under UPA-2 government, seem to have been vindicated but it remains to be seen whether the political bigwigs' acquittal would be short-lived, or it's the ultimate truth of this so called "scam". The verdict, however, doesn't override the Supreme Court judgment that the licences issued during 2G spectrum allocation were illegal.

While the CBI and the ED have already said they would go to the higher court after reading the verdict with all the evidence and probe reports, the government's still weighing in options. However, if Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha's statement is anything to go by, the government could also choose the similar path. In a report on ET on Friday, Sinha was quoted saying the allocation was "corrupt" and "arbitrary". "In 2008, spectrum was allocated and instead of 'first come first serve', it was made 'first come first pay'. Today, it is the responsibility of investigating agency to investigate the trial court's decision and decide the future course," he said.

In 2010, then Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai in a report had held Raja responsible for causing the state exchequer a loss of Rs 1,76,379 crore by allocating 2G spectrum licenses at throwaway prices. In a statement on Thursday evening, Raja said the court acquittal showed that the presumptive loss in allocation of 2G spectrum was "cooked-up", reported PTI. He also debunked the presumptive loss theories in the allocation.

Raja was the telecom minister in the Congress-led UPA government when 122 spectrum licences were issued to 8 companies in 2008 on first-come-first-serve basis. He said his actions were for the benefit of masses. Raja remained in jail for over 15 months while Kanimozhi was in prison for six months before they were granted bail. DMK leader K Kanimozhi also said that "it was a harrowing experience to be accused of something I have not done and being accused of corruption which I was not a part of". She said that the whole party had suffered due to this.

The acquittal of all the accused brought to end the trial that lasted nearly seven years in one of the most controversial corruption cases that involved politicians, bureaucrats and a host of businessmen and corporate executives accused of conspiracy in the allocation of spectrum or radio waves used to offer mobile services.