NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday informed the Delhi High Court that its appeal against acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja and 16 others in the ‘infamous’ 2G spectrum allocation case is “ripe for hearing.”
Senior advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the CBI, urged Justice Vikas Mahajan to schedule multiple hearing dates given the voluminous records involved in the case. “I request the court to give a bouquet of multiple dates,” he submitted.
Taking note of the request, Justice Mahajan posted the matter for hearing on March 18.
The 2G spectrum scandal, once dubbed as one of India’s biggest corruption cases, saw dramatic twist in December 2017 when a special CBI court acquitted Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, and 15 others in both CBI and Enforcement Directorate cases linked to the ‘scam’.
The CBI, which had estimated a staggering Rs 30,984 crore loss to the exchequer due to manipulated 2G license allocations in 2008, challenged the acquittals before the Delhi High Court in March 2018. The agency alleged that the allocation process, conducted on a first-come-first-served basis, was rigged to benefit select firms. The Supreme Court had scrapped the licenses in 2012, citing irregularities.
In March 2024, the high court admitted the CBI’s appeal, noting “contradictions” in the trial court verdict that required deeper legal scrutiny.