2G case: All the accused to be tried for criminal breach of trust

The 2G spectrum case on Saturday reached an importantmilestone with a Delhicourt framing charges against all the 17 accused including former TelecomMinister A. Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi and corporate honchos.

Special CBI judge O P Saini also ordered that trial in thecase will commence from November 11 with all the accused refusing to pleadguilty to various offences.

"....Thereby, you all committed an offence punishableunder Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 409 (criminal breach oftrust), 420 (cheating) 468 and 471 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code andSection 7 or in alternative Section 11 read with Section 12 and 13(2) read with13 (1b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and within my cognisance," thejudge said in his 700-page order.

While framing charges, the judge observed that there isevidence against Raja, his former Private Secretary R.K. Chandolia and formerTelecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura.

With today's development, accused can now now move for bailas observed by the Supreme Court during the hearing of bail petition byKanimozhi earlier.

The Judge said evidence is there for framing of chargesagainst telecom firms Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (TamilNadu) Wireless Ltd.

He also said CBI has also brought evidence to frame chargesagainst corporate executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's ManagingDirector Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara, Group's President and Hari Nair, seniorvice president.

Others against whom charges have been framed are SwanTelecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa, their colleagueRajeev Agarwal, Unitech Ltd's MD Sanjay Chandra and DB Realty MD Vinod Goenka.

The judge said there was prima facie evidence for framingcharges also against Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar and Bollywood filmmakerKarim Morani. .

"You accused A Raja and Siddarth Behura dishonestly inpursuance of the conspiracy disposed of/allocated valuable spectrum, over whichyou were having dominion which was entrusted to you in the capacity of publicservant to M/s Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and M/s Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltdin violation of law with a view to cause wrongful gain to these companiesthereby you committed an offence punishable under Section 2409 read with 120-Band within my cognisance," the judge said.

The court found prima facie evidence to frame various penalcharges including cheating, forgery, abetment and criminal conspiracy againstthe accused.

It also found prima facie evidence of abuse of officialposition by Raja, Chandolia and Behura.

The court had reserved its order on October 14 after hearingday-to-day arguments on behalf of accused and the CBI for nearly two months.

The trial of the accused would begin after the courtpronounces its order on framing of charges in the case.

The CBI, in its first charge sheet filed on April 2, hadcharged Raja and others with causing a huge loss of Rs. 30,984 crore to theexchequer by allocating spectrum to ineligible operators as per a criminal conspiracyamong themselves.

Special CBI Prosecutor U U Lalit had argued that there was"sufficient prima facie" evidence against all the accused to proceedwith the trial as everyone of them was part of the conspiracy and the intent tocommit offence "may be inferred from their knowledge".

On the other hand, all the accused including Raja hadvehemently opposed the framing of charges and the plea of CBI that they causeda loss to the state in the grant of spectrum licenses.

While framing charges against Kanimozhi, the court said shehad been "in regular touch" with Raja to serve the cause of party-runKalaignar TV.

"You Kanimozhi Karunanithi had also been in regulartouch with accused A Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel and otherpending work of Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd and you were also an initial director ofthe company," it said.

The court said that she along with Raja "was furtherpursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd not only for getting registration ofthe company from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but also forgetting it in the Tata Sky bouquet".

The judge noted that Kanimozhi was a stakeholder inKalaignar TV to the tune of 20 per cent equity and was "an activebrain" behind its operation and was also widely covered by Kalaignar TV.

"Thus the amount of Rs. 200 crore paid by DynamixRealty to ... was not a genuine business transaction but in the nature ofillegal gratification paid in lieu of the UAS licences..." the judge said.

Special CBI Judge Saini also framed additional charges underSection 193 (giving false evidence) and 120B IPC against Swan Telecom promoterShahid Usman Balwa and five others for creating false documents to show allegedrouting of Rs. 200 crore to DMK-run Kalaignar TV as loan transaction.

"You Shahid Usman Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Rajiv Agarwal,Asif Balwa, Karim Morani and Sharad Kumar created false documents to show thebribe amount of Rs. 200 crore as loan and with a view to use them in any stageof judicial proceedings and thereby committed an offence punishable undersection 193 read with 120B IPC and within my cognisance," the court said.

"I, hereby direct that you all be tried by this courtfor the aforesaid charges," the judge said while concluding his order.