2G scam case: CBI special court to announce verdict on October 25

The court had been hearing the three cases -- two filed by the CBI and the third by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Special CBI court to pronounce verdict on October 25th in 2G spectrum case. The trial for the case was concluded in April. The court had asked the accused former telecom minister A Raja, DMK leader Kanimozhi among others to file their clarifications.

The CBI court had been hearing the three cases -- two filed by the CBI and the third by the Enforcement Directorate.

In the first case filed by CBI, those facing trial, besides Raja and Kanimozhi, are former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) -- Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair -- are facing trial in the case.

In the second CBI case, those who face trial are Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters, Kiran Khaitan, her husband I P Khaitan and Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikash Saraf.

Three firms, Loop Telecom Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding Ltd (ETHL) are also chage sheeted.

The ED, in its case, had filed a charge sheet in April 2014 against 19 people, including Raja, Kanimozhi, Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Rajiv Aggarwal, Karim Morani and Sharad Kumar in connection with a money laundering case relating to the scam.

In its charge sheet, ED also named DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal as accused in the case in which it alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by STPL promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV.

What is 2G spectrum?

• 2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology
• Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were first commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991.
• Three primary benefits of 2G networks over their predecessors were that phone conversations were digitally encrypted
• 2G systems were significantly more efficient on the spectrum allowing for far greater mobile phone penetration levels
• 2G introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages

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