2G: Judge OP Saini-the man in eye of the storm

New Delhi, Feb 4: With the much-anticipated 2G verdict by the special trial court that will decide Home Minister P Chidambaram's involvement in the 2G spectrum scam, all eyes are on the person who will pronounce the landmark verdict in the special CBI court, Judge OP Saini. Saini will have the last word on whether Chidambaram will be named co-accused in one of the biggest telecom scams in India.

Judge Saini has had an illustrious career making some landmark judgements in his stellar career. He started off as a Delhi Police sub-inspector in 1981 and made his mark when he delivered the Red Fort shoot-out judgement that saw the main accused being sentenced to death.
Hailing from a middle class Haryana family, Saini is known for his honest tackling of cases that makes no differentiation between who stands in front of him, be it politicians or multi-millionaires.

Saini was also the person responsible for sending former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi to jail in the 2G case. When Kanimozhi applied for bail citing that she was a woman and a mother, Judge Saini shot down the bail application stating that she was a powerful politician and that she could intimidate witnesses. She was ordered to remain in custody till the end of the trial.

The soft spoken judge is understood to be a tough nut to crack in the court and has slammed mediapersons who don't maintain the decorum in court.

There are reports that in cases like imposition of sections like criminal breach of public trust or denying bail to 2G accused, Saini has accepted the prosecution's case in the 2G scam. With Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, who is the main petitioner in the case against Chidambaram as well as the acting prosecutor trying all tricks in the law books to make the Home Minister a co-accused in the 2G scam, will he be able to lay his cards before Judge Saini effectively remains to be seen.

OneIndia News