Raja, others to be indicted on corruption in 2G scam by Mar 31

Raja, others to be indicted on corruption in 2G scam by Mar 31  

Charge sheets will be filed against former telecom minister A Raja and two companies by 31st March for their alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum allocation case, the CBI told the Supreme Court, which asked the agency to appoint a suitable senior advocate as special public prosecutor in the trial.

Former Telecom Minister A Raja and others, including top executives of some telecom firms, are set to be indicted on charges of corruption, money laundering, cheating and forgery when CBI files the chargesheet in the 2G scam by 31st March.

Filing its latest status report of its probe in the scam in a sealed envelop,before a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly, the CBI told the apex court that many new facts have emerged in the case.

Chargesheet would also be filed against many people and companies later on, the agency said.

"The main chargesheet will be filed against A Raja and two companies by March 31. This is only the beginning and many people and companies would also be chargesheeted later on," senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, told the bench which asked the agency to appoint a suitable prosecutor for trial.

"Look out for the best man. We want the most competent person to be appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor and he will deal with no other case," the bench said.

Venugopal told the court that many people, including the CEO of a telecom company, have been examined by the agency and Letters Rogatory have been sent to some countries for tracking the money trail.

He said in case of Mauritius, some progress has been made.

He submitted that the agency is also probing a land deal in Chennai involving Tatas and the DMK party and the progress on investigation into it has been mentioned in the report.

Going through the status report, the court referred to a company and asked, "Is it the same company which has association with Vodafone and (it) was also mentioned in the ED report?"
"Yes," replied Venugopal.

The court, in its order, directed the investigating agency to place before it the transcripts of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephonic conversations tapped by the IT department on the next date of hearing on 29th March.

It also asked the CBI and the ED to place details of further investigation done by them on that day.

Meanwhile, the Centre told the apex court that it got a letter from Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, agreeing to set up an exclusive court for holding trial in the 2G case and it would be done by 29th March so that the chargesheet filed by the agency could be taken into cognisance.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati said appropriate notification would be issued by the Centre to hold the trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The bench, after going through the CBI report, said that many additional chargesheets will have to be filed by the agency in the case.

"Lines of investigation show that it cannot be done in one chargesheet but many chargesheets have to be filed," the bench said.

The court also said that it would look into the plea for forming a committee to assist and monitor the probe into the case after the petitioner pleaded that an expert body is required to oversee the investigation by CBI and ED.

The Centre, however, opposed the idea of forming an expert body saying it would demoralise the officers who are doing a splendid job.

Venugoapl also submitted that CBI and ED officers are working 20 to 22 hours a day and they are working without breaks and holidays.

He said the raids were being conducted at many places even on Sundays and they were committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

He also said probe has been done in the scam from national security point of view and findings have been mentioned in the report.