2G spectrum scam verdict questions CBI’s credibility, integrity

A special court on Thursday acquitted all accused in the alleged multi-crore 2G spectrum allocation scam case saying “some people created a huge scam by artfully arranging a few selected facts, when there was none.”

In his judgment, special judge O P Saini said the CBI filed a “well-choreographed” charge sheet against former Telecom Minister A Raja and recorded “incorrect facts.”

The court said, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) “miserably failed to prove any charges against any of the accused” in a case that reduced the Grand-Old party Congress to its lowest figure in Lok Sabha.

The special court’s judgment has raised serious questions on the integrity and competency of CBI, country’s premier investigating agency.

The case made headlines in 2010 after the then CAG Vinod Rai tabled a report in the Parliament flagging major irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report had claimed that the “first come, first served" policy of Telecom Ministry for allocating 2G spectrum caused an astronomical loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer.

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However, CBI’s charge sheet filed in 2011 mentioned only Rs 30,984 crore loss to the country in allocation of licences for 2G spectrum.

The CBI framed several charges against A Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 other accused that included criminal conspiracy, cheating, and bribery. If proved, the charges invited sentences ranging from 7 years to life imprisonment.

But even after seven years of filing the charge sheet, the CBI could prove none of them.

Apart from its sovereignty and competency, the ability of CBI to carry out financial investigations has always been questioned.

There have been several instances when the premier investigating agency had to face embarrassment after failing to prove charges against accused.

In the past as well, political parties accused each other of using CBI as a weapon to blackmail opponents.

Congress party has once termed CBI as “captive puppet” of BJP and accused the agency of working like govt’s “dirty tricks department.”

The judgement of the special court in the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam has ripped the credibility of CBI and now the premier investigating agency has to look for alternatives to improve its trustworthiness.