SC to set up Bench to hear 2G spectrum case pleas

The Supreme Court will set up a Bench in January to deal with the pleas connected with the 2G spectrum allocation case, where the trial court in 2017 acquitted all, including former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi.

"We will constitute a Bench in January," said the court on Wednesday.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), urged a Bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant to consider setting up of a Bench to deal with various pleas relating to the 2G case.

Currently, the Delhi High Court is hearing various appeals filed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the acquittal.

The Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) had put the presumptive loss at Rs 1.76 lakh crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum licences.

Earlier, the apex court had monitored the probe into the 2G scam, and in February 2012 cancelled the licences granted by Raja. The top court had ruled the licences were issued in arbitrary and unconstitutional manner.

Despite cancellation of licences, the trial court didn't see any merit in the cases against Raja, Kanimozhi and others.

The acquitted persons included -- DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, film producer Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Sharad Kumar, Director of Kalaignar TV in the ED case.

The special court also acquitted Raja's erstwhile private secretary R.K. Chandolia, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) -- Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair -- and Sanjay Chandra, MD of Unitech.

The list of acquitted persons in the CBI case also included -- Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka and directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal.IANS