All the accused, including former telecommunications minister Andimuthu Raja and Rajya Sabha member Muthuvel Karunanidhi Kanimozhi, have been acquitted by a special CBI court in Delhi on Thursday in the multi-billion 2G spectrum allocation case – one the biggest graft scandals to hit Indian politics in the last decade.
Raja was accused of accepting kickbacks in exchange for allocating 2G mobile air waves and operating licenses to select telecom firms in 2007-08 which caused massive losses to the Indian exchequer. The allegation of corruption was one of the main reasons behind the downfall of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance under then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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The Enforcement Directorate, according to reports, had filed a separate case of money laundering against Raja, Kanimozhi, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal and others.
Loop Telecom promoters IP Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan, and Essar promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, were also let off, according to PTI.
"I have absolutely no hesitation in holding that prosecution has miserably failed to prove any charge against any accused," CBI Judge OP Saini said, beforepronouncing the "not guilty" verdict for all accused due to lack of evidence.