2G scam: CBI to appeal against verdict acquitting all accused

The agency, which normally takes months to "study" court orders before proceeding to file an appeal in higher court, declared within hours of the verdict that "it has been prima facie examined".

New Delhi, December 21: The CBI today said it would file an appeal against the 2G scam case verdict by a special court, which acquitted all the 16 accused rejecting the case presented by the agency.

The agency, which normally takes months to "study" court orders before proceeding to file an appeal in higher court, declared within hours of the verdict that "it has been prima facie examined".

"The judgement relating to the 2G scam case of today has been prima facie examined and it appears that the evidence adduced to substantiate the charges by the prosecution has not been appreciated in its proper perspective by the learned court. The CBI will be taking necessary legal remedies in the matter," CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

Asked whether an appeal would be filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the verdict, the spokesperson replied in the affirmative. Former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were today acquitted by the special court in the 2G spectrum scam case. Fifteen other accused in the case and three companies were also acquitted.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also decided to appeal against the judgement of the special court that acquitted 19 people in the 2G spectrum allocation money laundering case. ED officials said the agency would study the order and knock on the doors of the high court armed with their evidence and investigation.

The officials said it has to be seen if the ED case has been rejected by the court merely because the predicate offence probe of the CBI has been rejected or there were other reasons to do so.

Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, Special Judge O P Saini also acquitted Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Rajiv Aggarwal, Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Sharad Kumar in connection with the case. In its charge sheet, the ED also named DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal as an accused in the case in which it had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd (STPL) promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV.

In its final report, the ED had named 10 individuals and nine companies as accused and listed them in the charge sheet for the offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Besides Kalaignar TV, the other companies accused in the case were STPL (now Etisalat DB Telecom (P) Ltd), Kusegaon Realty (P) Ltd, Cineyug Media & Entertainment (P) Ltd, Dynamix Realty, Eversmile Construction Company (P) Ltd, Conwood Construction & Developers (P) Ltd, DB Realty Ltd and Mystical Construction (P) Ltd (earlier known as Nihar Constructions (P) Ltd).

PTI